Butterfly Kisses
by OnyxIvyStone
Summary: What if every story ever written is an echo of some reality barely touched by the dreamer, who managed to sense the ripple of light between worlds?
1. Chapter 1

Note from the writer:

I present to you the impetus for _Butterfly Kisses._ When I first began writing on .Spark, I would often post my conversations with Inuyasha who had developed into my muse during the early stages of writing fan fiction. The posts were always playful and, in some very significant ways, inspirational. They were my respite while I wrote the first story I ever posted, and they amused my readers a great deal. One evening while writing, I had the idea cross my mind... What if the conversations had actually occurred? What if they had been the meeting of two very real minds across a vast chasm of reality and space and time? What if every story ever written is an echo of some reality barely touched by the dreamer, who managed to sense the ripple of light between worlds? What if Inuyasha's world was actually in existence? What if HE was real... And these conversations had actually been a rapport of two souls achingly alone, reaching out in the night? What would it have taken to open a portal? Would there be evidence of the leap through the cosmic worm-hole, or would it simply be that she or he vanished without word or explanation, leaving all they loved questioning their fates forever? I wanted to know, and so I began my journey into the world of this story. Due to my intense hatred of Mary-Sue style OCs, I abandoned this story after the first three chapters... But I never forgot it. Now, through the tender urgings of my puppy-eared muse, I resurrect the tale... And gift it to you. Please enjoy this reposting of the original conversations. There will be much more to follow.

-M

(Found posted as Chapter 11 on .Spark in the story "To Know The Man")

I lay on my back on the floor of my bedroom, my legs bedecked in knee high Doc Marten boots that have an inch and a half pump heel propped up against my door. My legs are at a thirty degree angle so that my knee length, flowing blue silk skirt doesn't slip too close to my hips. My arms are stretched out crucifix style. My simple black tank top is low cut and hugs snugly, low on my hips. My dark hair brown hair is pooled around my head in waves and my green-blue, hazel eyes look up at the popcorn on the ceiling. It's fitfully hot here. Too hot to think. I've been writing this story the past few days and I have it plotted out so neatly. I want to write more, but I have homework. College calls and I've been so busy, there have been times I've forgotten to breathe. This story has been my sanity. So I stand up and go back to my laptop and write a little hit about myself in the hope that it will sate me for the moment.

"You know you want to keep writing, Ivy."

"Hush, Inuyasha."

"You know you want to dream up a girlfriend for me, Ivy."

"Hush, I mean it."

It isn't that I'm crazy, it's that I'm a writer. When I write it's almost as if I have conversations with the characters I'm writing about. When I write fanfiction set in the Inuyuasha world, the puppy boy pops up rather often during my writing to lend advice and ideas. Sometimes he annoys me, but he always makes me laugh.

He perches on the back of the couch and reads over my shoulder. His silvery white hair tickles my shoulder where it touches when he peers at what I am typing.

"I can't read that. What do those symbols mean?"

"They mean a lot of things. The alphabet used in the English language is phonetic and based upon twenty six letters."

"If you're writing in English and you speak only English, how is it that we understand each other?"

"Babblefish. When you slip out of my imagination, you instantly get a babblefish. Because you're in my imagination, I always hear you speaking English."

"Babblefish?"

I sigh and smirk. "I currently do not own Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so I can't loan it to you, however it comes from that. It's a small fish that you stick in your ear and you can understand all languages."

"Feh. That's stupid."

"Some people think its funny."

"Well, then they're stupid."

I sigh. "You know, sometimes I wish I had a Sit Inuyasha for free card. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars."

"What the hell are you talking about now?"

"Oh nothing. So you're here to beg me to make you a girlfriend?"

"Yup. Kagome's taken. Sango's taken. Kikyo's a mud-pie. Miyoko's my half sister… I want a girlfriend."

I giggle. "What about Ayame?"

"Hell no. No mangy wolves for me."

"I think you like Ayame and you're just being secretive about it."

His jaw dropped. "I do not!"

"Do so."

"Do not!"

"Serves you right for saying people who think a babblefish is funny are stupid."

"You think its funny?"

"Its about context."

"Whatever."

"Look, I'll think about dreaming up a girlfriend for you, but only if you promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"You'll stop saying Feh all the damned time. It annoys me."

"I'll try."

"That's all I'm asking for."

"So are you going to do your homework now?"

"Yup."

"Have fun."

"Always."

He fades away and I sigh and pull out the notes I have to transcribe. After next week I'll be free to do what I want without guilt. Yeah. That will be nice.

(Found posted as Chapter 16 on .Spark in the story "To Know The Man")

I gather up what I will need for the next few days and pack them in my pink luggage. Tapping my index finger against my lips, I wonder if there's anything I've forgotten.

"What are you doing?"

"Packing, Inuyasha."

"Where are you going? Won't G be lonely without you? What about your cats, Ebi and Nel? I know Buyo got lonesome when he wasn't petted all the time."

"I'm going to my best friend's wedding. She's getting married on Saturday and I'm her maid of honor."

"Is that why you have this thing?"

"Inuyasha, get your nose out of my suitcase!"

He jumps back several feet and balances on my desk holding up the crimson silk dress. "I like the color. You'll look really pretty in it, I bet!"

"That's the thought. Now put it back where you found it."

He folds it up again and slips it into my suitcase. "So that means no more story for a few days?"

"Not until Sunday evening. By then I should have at least three more chapters written, but I won't have the time or internet access readily available to post them as I finish them."

"What about your finals?"

"I took my last in class one tonight. It went we, I guess. I'm trying not to think about it."

"What about your online one?"

"I'm doing that one tomorrow evening or Thursday morning. It isn't due until Thursday evening and I have plenty of time to finish it. So why are you hovering over my suitcase now?"

He holds up the golden Godiva box. "What is in this? It smells incredible!"

I grab the box and flick his nose. "Not for puppies."

He growls playfully and tries to reach for the box. "What is it?"

"Chocolate. It makes dogs sick if they eat it. It could kill you."

"But I'm an imaginary half dog youkai!"

"You're the imaginary half dog youkai who lives in my head and, with my luck, that means even if you aren't real I'll end up with imaginary puppy vomit on the floor and I down right refuse to take you to the vet."

"You aren't any fun."

"So you've told me before."

"So where's my girlfriend, huh? You keep being mean to me for no reason."

"I haven't thought her up yet and, well... You kind of deserve it. That and you have a big target on your forehead."

He sticks his tongue out at me. "I think you're just mean."

"You're right, I'm just mean." I smirk and wave my hand at him. "Now go be a good puppy boy and let me finish packing."

"You'll be careful driving, right?"

"I promise. Until later, Yasha."

"Later." He disappears and I finish packing my bags. Its going to be a great visit. I get to see my best friend from high school marry the man she loves and see my family. Life doesn't get better than that when you're with the ones you love for good reasons.

(Found posted as Chapter 21 on .Spark in the story "To Know The Man")

I am sitting in my newly organized room, reading the reviews for my stories, and I feel a soft pressure on my shoulder. I turn my head to see the smoldering gold of Inuyasha, staring at me.

"You're adding more chapters? What the hell!?"

"I feel like I'm rushing things."

"What do you mean, you feel like you're rushing things? You just chose four more chapter titles and now you're searching for poetry. And I know that none of those chapters include you giving me a girlfriend, do they?"

"This isn't your story, 'Yasha, you know that."

"But you're torturing me!"

I can't help but smile slightly. "You're fun to torture."

"No I ain't!"

"Yes you are. When I torture Sesshou, he just looks at me with those icy eyes and tells me 'More weight' like some martyr back in Salem."

"Where's Salem?"

"Goddess, you're distractible. It's in Massachusetts, over on the east coast."

"So you're making Kouga the bad guy?"

"Telling you would be cheating. And, anyway, you already know because you're my figment-friend living in my imagination."

"You realize you're sneaky as hell."

"I try."

"You know, they said you were doing fine with your pacing."

I raise my brow, find a puppy treat and toss it to him. "Good boy, you noticed."

"Don't be patronizing, Ivy." Still, he eats it like it was some decadent treat meant for savoring. "But, really, if they say you're doing ok, you should trust them."

"I do trust them, I just feel like I'm rushing a few things."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that I have some plot devices I haven't even begun to bring into play yet."

"You mean Ayame."

I smirk and tweak his ear, smiling sadistically when he yelps. "You weren't

supposed to tell them that."

"You didn't have to write it down, you know." He rubs his ear, half pouting. "And you don't have to bring her in either. She isn't essential."

"No, she isn't."

"Then why bother?"

"That I will not let slip. She serves a purpose in this story, even if it is only for

my sick amusement."

"Vague, bitchy wench."

"Just for that, I intend to acquire that Sit Inuyasha for Free card."

"You wouldn't!"

I meet his eyes with a stare that could melt metal and my voice resonates with a tone that is best suited to a mother's warnings. "You know very well exactly what I will and will not do, 'Yasha. So watch your step."

"Feh."

"That's it, no OC girlfriend for you."

His jaw drops. "But… But…."

"Goats but, birds fly and cute puppy boys who don't keep their promises lose their OC girlfriends." I smile with that same sadistic shimmer in my eyes. "Or maybe Ayame can be your girlfriend."

"Oh… Oh HELL no!"

"Give me a reason not to."

He scrunches his nose and flattens his ears. Through gritted teeth I hear exactly what I hoped he'd say. "The babblefish thing was funny."

"A little louder, 'Yasha. I couldn't hear you."

"The babble fish thing was funny, alright?"

"I have you so well trained."

"Do I get to have a girlfriend?"

"We'll see. But you definitely got yourself out of a pairing with Ayame."

He sits on my bed and grumbles. "There's that at least. Hey, how was the wedding?"

"Incredible. Everything was beautiful."

"Did you look good in the dress?"

"Remarkably, I have no idea."

"You… You never looked in the mirror once? Why?"

I shrug. "My mom helped the two of us get dressed and I just never stopped to look. I trusted her judgment."

"You don't seem so trusting right now."

"I'm a very different person when I'm not writing as Ivy, 'Yasha. You also know that. Most people probably wouldn't even recognize me."

"Are you going to start writing the next chapters now?"

I nod and make a shooing motion with my hand. "Go off and do what ever it is you do while I am writing, 'Yasha."

"Ok. Hey… If I'm really good, would you consider making me an OC girlfriend, maybe?'

I sigh and smile. "Alright, I'll consider it. But only if you're good and leave me alone to write."

"Deal."

"Shoo."

"Yes, Ma'am."

He fades away back into my imagination and I return to planning out where the next chapter will take me. The smile is still on my face.

(Posted as Chapter 24 on .Spark in the story "To Know The Man," also the impetus for posting "The Choices We Make" because of much coaxing from readers in agreement with the Puppy-Boy)

"No. I won't do it, Inuyasha."

"Oh, come ON, Ivy!"

"NO!"

"Why not?"

"Because it was my first ever. I feel… Naked even contemplating putting it out there."

"But it's still good! Not as good as this one, but it's good! You should trust yourself." He's perched on the back of my computer, looking at me in the eyes. I'm not exactly sure how he could be perched so weightlessly there when I know that he's heavier than that. Must be something about him being a figment. He can only affect the one whose imagining him.

"You just want me to post it because I give you a girlfriend in it."

"And because its good."

"Inuyasha…"

"Ivy, please? Ok, if you won't give in to me, see if the fine readers of this fan fic want more of your stuff. Even if you think it's crap."

"If I ask them, will you drop the subject, get off my computer and get back into my imagination so I can write the next chapter?"

"Yes, yes and yes."

"Alright. Fine. I'll ask them."

"Thank you, Ivy."

"Yeah, yeah. Crazy, annoying Inu-puppy."

(Posted as Chapter 26 on .Spark in the story "To Know The Man")

"Ayame's not so bad. She just reminds me of a too perky cheerleader from the eighties. If you put her in roller-skates and played some ABBA, it would be like a scene out of Zanadu."

"I think that's the meanest thing I've ever heard you say."

"It's the truth." I say and toss Kagome another piece of chocolate. "Tell me you haven't thought about it."

"I refuse to say anything about it."

"Afraid of incriminating yourself?"

"Hai."

"So are you happy with the current story I'm writing for you and Sessy?"

"Yes, though you are very mean. You have this whole thing plotted out and it's just… Cruel sometimes. You could stand to be nicer."

"I'm far too nice for my own good in real life. I don't have to be nice when I'm writing stories and especially not when I'm writing fan fiction." I reply as I nibble at the chocolate covered cherry I've pulled from the box. "So, did you make it?"

She sighs and reaches into her pocket, producing a slip of yellow card stock and hands it to me. "See, this is what I mean by being not nice."

"You could have said no to me. You could have said 'Ivy, this is mean and I refuse to degrade myself just for your momentary pleasure.' You could have, but you didn't. Now who's mean?"

She waves her hand and grabs another chocolate. "Yeah, yeah. When is Inuyasha getting here?"

"As soon as you fade out. Talking to too many imaginary friends gets wearing after a while. It's an unfortunate bi-product of being a writer, this whole 'I talk to the characters I write about' thing, and I don't want to push it. My sanity is at stake, you know."

"Uhu. Yeah. Sure. You just want to be alone with Inuyasha."

"Oh, go back to your demon puppy and leave me alone."

"Have fun!" She says with that perky, innocent and almost sickeningly sweet smile.

Once she vanishes from view, I hide the chocolates and "call" in Inuyasha. He materializes and all but pounces me.

"So have you thought it over?" He asks with a big, stupid grin on his face.

"Inuyasha, you know I already have this whole fanfic planned out and there's absolutely no room for a sequel."

"But you're so creative! And smart! And pretty! And nice!"

"Keep sucking up to me and you'll be permanently suctioned to my ass."

He makes a face and I laugh. "You're more of a smart ass than I am."

"And I'm just about as uncouth."

"Un what?"

"Oh, never mind… The answer is, as much as I would love to write a sequel to this fan fiction where you fall in love and live happily ever after, I can't. It just isn't in the cards."

"Come on, Ivy!"

"Yasha, why don't you just sit yourself down and stop nagging me?"

He is pulled face first into my carpet. I crouch in front of him and wave the Sit Inuyasha For Free card Kagome made for me. "Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. Bad puppy pestering me all the time about wanting me to make you an OC lover for this story or at least a sequel."

"But… I'm your favorite character!"

"Nope. The list goes Kagome, Sesshomaru, Mokomokosama, Inuyasha, Rin, Miroku, Sango Shippo, Kohaku… and then ends with Ayame, Alive Kikyo and Mud Pie Kikyo."

"I get passed over for a furry boa?"

"He's fuzzier."

"What about Sess?"

"Moko makes him fuzzier than you. And he's hot."

"I'm hot."

"No, you're not. You're cute. Painfully cute. Bordering on adorable."

"I am NOT adorable."

"If I scritch you behind your ears, your leg starts going. If I throw something and say fetch, you can't help your self. You have that pouty, little boy thing going on. Face it, Yasha, you're adorable."

"Well… So are you!"

"Thanks."

"You weren't supposed to thank me!"

"Yeah, well, I was supposed to write a five more chapters and an epilogue, but I wrote this instead. Learn to live with disappointment."

"Writer's block?"

"Writer's terror."

"Don't want to end it, huh?"

"Nope."

"So write a sequel."

"You just want a girlfriend."

"I can't help it if the best solution suits my purposes."

I sigh and shake my head, and then I meet his big golden eyes and realize completely what a sequel will mean. SO much work. SO much research and reading so I can find loopholes. "Fine. You win. Six more chapters, no epilogue but a first chapter preview of the sequel."

He grins and I turn into a puddle of Ivy. I can't help it. I just can't tell the puppy boy no.

(Found posted as Chapter 31 on .Spark in the story "To Know The Man")

The puppy boy has his head in my lap. I've had another cold (That would be the second in as many weeks. Damned working at an amusement park.) and so am dreaming happy dreams while I rest enough to paint another chapter in words. His eyes are open and on me in deep amber pools of light full of concern and warmth. I smile.

"I'll be alright, Yasha. I'm sick, but I'll be better soon. I just need sleep. Then you will have the sequel and your pretty girlfriend and you can stop pestering me."

"That ain't why I'm worried. You're sick and you're upset and writing sad stories where I'm dead."

"Heart of my Soul is where I can be sad without worrying everyone. I'll be ok, Yasha. Everything resolves itself in time."

"Yeah, well. You better get some sleep and get well or else I'll get corporeal and kick your ass."

"I love you too, Yasha."

"You better." He smirks and closes his eyes, grabbing my hands before I can start playing with his ears. "She should be like you."

"Who?"

"This girl you're writing for me. She should be like you."

"Didn't you like Sayoko from my other story?" I frown and he opens one of his eyes half way and scowls before closing it again.

"I liked her fine. But… I think the one in the sequel should be like you, Ivy. You get me."

My lips quirk faintly and I sigh, shaking my head. "Kagome is going to tease me forever."

"She does that." He replies, smiling a rather wicked smile I think would fit better on his brother's lips. "She can look however you want her to look, but I want her to be like you. At least so she can stand up to me and make me laugh and won't back down when I'm wrong."

"Inuyasha? Wrong?"

He chuckles and I flick his nose. "Yeah, yeah. Don't let it go to your head."

"That's what most of these conversations are, Yasha. Me letting you go to my head."

"Hey! I'm more than that! I'm your muse."

"Amusing, maybe."

"Bite me."

"Where?"

He sits up and looks at me with that shocked, confused and all together adorable look on his face. "I... Well, I don't know."

I laugh and shake my head. "So damned proper."

"No I ain't."

"You most certainly are. You have that whole honor thing going and what you don't get is that I come from a family that lives more by a pirate's code than a samurai's. Put along side my family, you'd be a gentleman."

"You're lying."

"My father calls himself a modern barbarian for a reason." I reply and wave my hand, dropping the subject. "So you want her to be kinda like me?"

He shrugs, laying his head back in my lap, closing his eyes as I begin to play with his ears. "It would be nice. Then I could torture… I mean entertain you in more than just your daydreams."

"Uhu. I knew there was more to this."

"So does that mean no?" He opens one eye half way again and looks up at me. "Or does that mean 'I'm Ivy. I'm going to be difficult and leave you in suspense until it actually happens.'?"

"Guess."

"Shit."

"You did it to yourself."

"Yeah well… I like surprises."

"Good."

"Fine."

"Wonderful."

"You can keep playing with my ears if you want to."

"I know and am. At least until I wake up from my nap."

"Get better soon, Ivy. It's no fun when you're sick."

"I think G would agree with you."

"That's cause we're right."

"Uhu. G'night, Yasha."

"G'night, Ivy."

(Posted at the end of Chapter 6 on .Spark in the story "Kaidan.)

You're pacing."

"Yes, 'Yasha, I'm pacing."

"Why?"

"I hate writing him."

He chuckles. 'Your fault. Your problem."

I give him a nasty look.

He raises a brow. "No need to get snippy at me, Ivy. I told you what I think of this story."

"Uhu... I just... Ewe. I don't want to write the next one."

"But you're gonna. Because if you don't, you'll never be able to get on with Eclipsed Souls and then I will be pissed again and you'll be miserable." He stands and grabs my hands only to draw me down to sit again in front of my computer. He rests his head on my shoulder. "Get to it."

I playfully snarl at him and sigh. He kisses my shoulder and I start the next chapter.

(Found posted at the end of Chapter 4 on .Spark in the story "Kaidan")

Inuyasha's mad at me. He's sulking right now across the room and refuses to look at me. I sigh and hit him in the head with a puppy treat and he even ignores that. He leaves it on the floor and lets the cats eat it.

"'Yasha, I'm sorry, alright! It just... Worked." I crawl over and sit next to him, folding my legs in lotus as well. He stands up as I lean my head on his shoulder and walks to the other side of the room to continue sulking. I sigh and quickly scurry over, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Stop it, alright? I'm sorry... I'm really REALLY sorry."

"Liar." He bites out through clenched teeth. "I don't like who you're making the bad guy."

"Oh 'Yasha..." He pinches my hands and jumps away when I yelp and release him. I rub the slowly forming bruises he left on me and scowl. "What can I do to make it better? I can't take it back."

"Yeah, and even if you tried, I wouldn't accept it and forgive you. Damnit, Ivy! If I wasn't imaginary, I'd tear out your throat and leave you to bleed out!"

My eyes widen and I grasp my throat. I divert my eyes to try and hide the hurt. "You don't mean that."

He growls and looks sheepish for a moment, then panics when my eyes shimmer with tears. "No! Don't you cry, damnit! That isn't fair and you know it."

"Take it back, then." I say, pouting, fighting the tears. It seems crazy to have my feelings hurt by a figment, but he really didn't have to be that mean.

He snarls and suddenly has my shoulders in a death grip. He hauls me to my feet and shakes me gently until I meet his eyes. Stupid golden eyes. Stupid puppy ears. I really hate myself, but the story line was just too damned good and is still just too damned good. He sighs and presses his brow to mine gently before embracing me. I wrap my arms around his waist and lean on him. "You've been through a lot lately. I shouldn't be so mean... I just don't like this story."

"You don't have to like it, 'Yasha."

He tilts up his head slightly and kisses my nose before sitting and drawing me down with him so I am curled on his lap. He runs his fingers through my chocolate hair and I melt. He really can be very nice when he wants to be. "Can you promise me something?"

"If I do, will you not be so angry at me any more?"

"I ain't angry." I give him an incredulous look and he slips his hand into my hair again and pushes my head back onto his chest. "I ain't angry, I'm pissed. I get angry, I run away and don't come back."

"You didn't talk to me for days."

"Did I run away?"

"No."

"Then I ain't angry."

I smile faintly and curl tighter against him. He has this aura, this energy about him like a certain someone else I know in my real life whose embrace simply makes everything in the world alright again even when it is the furthest from alright that it ever could be. "What do you want me to promise?"

"That this is the last story you do this crap to me in. No matter how good the story is. I don't like it and I don't like the mood you gotta be in to come up with it. It isn't healthy for you to be this depressed."

"I write the best when I'm depressed."

"Bullshit and you know it." He traces my jaw with his claws and I shudder. "So what is her name gonna be? The girl you're making for me in the other story that is gonna be like you."

I laugh faintly. "Is that all you think about?"

"Aside from our chats, yes."

I blush and hug him tighter. "I was thinking her name could be Kyla."

"What does it mean?"

"It means lovely or beautiful."

"Is she gonna look like you?"

"More or less. She'll have her magic seeming and her mortal seeming, but both will resemble me in the most basic ways."

"Then it is a good name."

"Remember my comment about getting permanently suctioned to my ass, 'Yasha?"

He chuckles and nods faintly. "So no reading over your shoulder as you write this story and plenty as you're writing the other."

I smile and nod in response. "I really hate it when you are pissed and sulk for days. It makes it hard to write."

"Go into deprivation?"

"In a manner of speaking."

He only laughs.

(Posted as the accidental Chapter 4 on .Spark in the story "Traversing The Ether of Dreams")

"Inuyasha, stop laughing..."

"But it's so damned funny!"

"I screwed up, ok!"

He keeps laughing and I tackle him. "I'll give you something to laugh about!" And I start to tickle him relentlessly.


	2. Chapter 2

Crash Landing-

Chaos theory, or the butterfly effect, changed how scientists viewed the world. The idea that something so gentle and soft as the fluttering of a butterfly's wing in a field in California could cause a tsunami in Japan seemed like science fiction until mathematics made it science fact. Suddenly it wasn't so unbelievable. I wonder if the butterfly ever realized its importance.

The butterfly effect gave way to a revolution in scientific thought. From it came advances in physics that, until then, were only vague concepts floating around in fiction author's heads. String theory, the evolution of quantum mechanics, theories of parallel realities all stem from this one beautifully constructed idea illustrated by the fragile, nearly insubstantial and inconsequential fluttering of an insect's wings.

In the face of a nearly unendingly vast and still expanding universe and the mathematical possibilities born from it, the human life is just as insignificant. Our breath is the fluttering of an insect. Our span on this earth is merely an instant in the face of eternity. What is purpose in the face of such a thought? What is happiness or love?

Scientists can't measure those things. Mathematics and theories on how the world works are merely our way of trying to control the uncontrollable. But understanding the universe doesn't mean we matter any more or less in its wake. It only means we see how unimportant we really are as we stand to face it. Those rules, however, cannot govern the universe within ourselves and our minds and hearts and imaginations. To feel deeply, know implicitly our own boundaries are something that science cannot find rules for.

When I close my eyes, I open myself to a universe without boundaries and infinite space to expand into. My imagination is an infinity that cannot be quantified and so I write and write and dream and wait and hope one day some small part of that dream will come true.

My fingers race over the keyboard as I record yet another possibility for one of my favorite worlds where inuyoukai and miko run together and fight great evils with mystical and divine power. It is a world filled with magic my world doesn't possess. I love to visit there with my imagination and play with the puppy boy, finding him amusement while I weave another story for his brother and best friend. They should be together. I have so many reasons why that they defy being written down in any intelligible format.

It is yin and yang. It is the balance they make at the heart of every other reason I could list that Kagome and Sesshomaru should be together. Inuyasha and Kagome are too alike to be able to balance each other and, since, in my mind, the story is really about Kagome's journey and not the hanyou or the inuyoukai's, I focus on that which will help her grow completely into the woman she should become. She is my favorite character, after all, quickly followed by Fluffy and his fluffy and then the puppy boy and then the rest in a sequence that doesn't even need to be mentioned.

Still, as my third favorite character and with no suitable pairing for the hanyou in sight, I find myself focusing more and more on ways to make him happy. Kagome and Sesshomaru are an easy pairing for me. They will always have some sort of happily ever after, but Inuyasha... That's another story. There does not exist a single character in that universe that could adequately balance him as he should be balanced unless I manage to alter a previously existing character substantially or create one of my own.

It was during the time I was writing "To Know The Man" that he began talking to me. Writers have muses. It's a known fact. Sometimes I have written dialogues with mine. It helps me to figure out what will happen next in a story. I called them my "conversations" and took to recording them while I wrote in a separate document. I had done so before with my own fiction. It had always helped me to write and so I found nothing wrong or odd about my discussions with the foul-mouthed puppy boy who seemed to materialize from my imagination when I reached a bit of writer's block. I became very attached to him. At times I almost wished he was real, my imagination had so carefully recreated him and filled out his character while we spoke. Lately he even seemed to be very attached to me as well, though I thought that to be more a simple musing than an actuality. Daydreams can't fall in love with their dreamers. That is utter nonsense. Even I know that.

I was sitting quietly one evening, thinking about the wish on the Shikon no Tama. It had to be a pure and unselfish wish in order for the jewel to be completely dispelled and the energies balanced. I've mused on what that wish could have been in every story I've written. Every time it's a little bit different. But, really, what kind of wish could Kagome make under the circumstances? She loves all of her friends and wants them all to be happy. Truly and unendingly happy. So much has to happen in order for that to be true. Kohaku would have to be able to survive once the shard is removed. Shippo's father would have to return from the dead. Miroku would have to start thinking with the head perched on his shoulders and not the one settled between his legs... So many things. Including Inuyasha. I don't believe Kagome could make him happy and he couldn't make her happy either. So what would the wish be? How would she phrase it? What words would she use? Wording and phrasing are very important in wishes. Anyone who knows the legends surrounding genies and the like could tell you that fact. A badly worded wish can lead to disaster. Wording became even more important when one knows the disasters felt in the wake of the Shikon no Tama's creation. Words are the butterfly's wings fluttering. Words can change the universe in such a chaotic and unimaginable way that they become the key to every possible shift for the good or bad. Then the wording came to me.

"I wish that those who were touched by the shattering of the Shikon no Tama will find a true and lasting happiness."

There were the words. A whole new universe opened up in my mind and, to my own terror, I found myself drawn into it against my will. There were lights flashing and power surrounding me as I was dragged from my world into another. My head spun and I felt a dizziness that almost made me ill. Unconsciousness is kind. It took me shortly after the strange shift began. I never could have been prepared for what happened when I woke.

It was cold and wet. There were the sounds of birds and wind and the air smelled fresher than any breath she had drawn in before, honeyed with the perfume of spring flowers just beginning to open with the sun. The grass she lay upon was soft, like her downy bed at home, however the morning dew soaking through her pink pajama bottoms and white fitted sleeping tank alerted her to the fact that she was not in her warm bed. She startled and sat up sharply with a gasp, dark cherry chocolate curls cascading around her, casting a red halo at the crown of her head with the light of the rising sun. Her hazel blue eyes were cast with the morning light, making them more lavender than the other range of colors they fell on with the contrast of colors around her or the sharp change of her emotions. She looked around the small clearing and trembled.

"I'm not here. I'm not really here; I just fell asleep while I was writing. I'm not actually here..." She paused and frowned. When she spoke again, she listened to her words carefully. "I'm not here, I'm at home in my bed... Holy shit, I'm speaking Japanese!" She jumped up and tried to focus on the words she was saying so they came out in English and, after much coaxing and focusing, found the words of her native tongue before allowing herself to slip back into the oddly natural Japanese language that flowed far more easily. "Oh... Oh, this is just great!" She looked up at the pure blue sky and felt her breath catch. She'd never seen such a clear blue sky before, not even after it had rained. "Whatever god or goddess is playing this little trick on me, you are really, REALLY not cool and definitely not funny. I want to go home now." She stamped her foot, and then yelped as her tender sole collided with a branch but did not cut into her. It just hurt like hell. She whimpered and sat on a nearby boulder, examining her heel. "You know, whoever it is who's watching me and laughing their divine ass off, the least you could have done after playing this practical joke was provide me with my Docs. And my jeans. And a bra and underwear, but no. NO. You had to throw me into some other world in my pjs…. I wonder if I can read in Japanese too... Oh, you better have given me the ability to read or I swear I'm hunting you buggers down."

She had never been much of a morning person. She was cranky, crass and temperamental until she had two things: a piece of toast with some marmalade and a cup of very strong coffee and then the world became bright and shiny again. It looked like she was going to have a craptacular day. She let out a long, heavy sigh and spun around several times with her arm pointed outward. Once she was significantly dizzy, she stopped and slowly opened her eyes to see what direction she was going. Instead of placing her gaze on a direction, she found herself face to face with a very large, very menacing looking samurai and a few of his friends. They were watching her with amusement and a gleam she wasn't so sure she had ever wanted to see. Something between mischief, malevolence and sadism sparkled in their gaze.

Her lips parted, as if to say something, but no witty comments found their way from her brain to her tongue. Instead, she spun around very quickly, stumbled from her dizziness, heard them laugh, cursed, then stood again and began to run away. They didn't follow her at first. Apparently they desired a game of cat and mouse. She smirked wickedly. Fine. If she was going to be raped, she wasn't going to take it lying down. If she were lucky, she'd run into someone who would help her. Oh wait, no. It was feudal Japan! No one defies a samurai. Fine, then. She'd have to settle for hurting them and dying. It is important to note that she wasn't entirely sure that she was even awake. This was the first time she'd been pulled into another reality. Things like this just didn't happen. At least not to real people.

So it was with these thoughts coursing through her confused brain at a mile a minute that she ran through the forest being torn at by branches, her feet cut by stones and thorns seeking desperately for the heaviest stick she could find. She came to a river and found just such a log and several smooth river stones. She turned to face the samurai who were leisurely jogging to catch her with those lustful looks adorning their faces. She paled but kept her smirk. What was her father's advice to her about rapists again? Oh, yes... It's about power and hurting a woman. It's about degradation. If they did get their hands on her, and it looked as if they would, she should relax and take their power from them by trying to enjoy it. It seemed an equally unlikely thing, but more than wanting to get away from them, she wanted to live. Desperately wanted to live.

"Come on you cock suckers," she growled, trying to stare them down. She really had no chance in hell of defending herself against them, but maybe she could scare them enough or convince them she wasn't worth their effort. Nope. She only made them angry. Their smiles faded and she felt herself tense with fear. She gripped the stones in her hand and as they approached, threw them at their faces as hard as she could. She was unusually strong for a woman. At five foot ten with a muscular build, she could easily rough house with the boys all her life. The first she hit in the eye with a sharp stone. He howled and held his face, blood pouring between his fingers. His friends didn't seem to appreciate that and charged her all at once. She raised her stick and released a feral scream that ripped through the forest. She'd been trained as an opera singer. She knew how to throw her voice and if she were going down, it wouldn't be quietly.

The forest shuddered with the rage filled shriek that originated almost a mile away. Without the noise pollution of the twenty first century or buildings to dampen the sound, her voice carried very far. Far enough to alert the small encampment further up stream where four men with very good hearing found themselves woken up or roused from their meditation by her desperate cry. Even the humans woke at the sound, looking at each other in confusion.

"Inuyasha... What was that?" Kagome asked, looking to the hanyou whose ears were pointed in the direction of the scream.

He frowned and listened as another scream pierced the air along with a line of curse words that nearly made him blush. "A girl..."

"A girl with a very foul mouth." Kouga added, scowling as he looked to the hanyou. "Do you two know each other?"

Inuyasha growled. "She sounds like she's in trouble. Come on..." He motioned to Miroku and the two began racing toward where the woman continued to curse and screech.

The others followed a moment later. The scene they came upon they did not expect. A young woman, cut and tattered with fiery auburn hair whipping in the wind collided the heavy branch she held with an advancing samurai's jaw. He howled and backed off from her with the others, all of whom were bloodied already. Before he could move too far from her, however, she reached out and stole the hilt of his katana, brandishing the sword menacingly at them.

"Come on, I dare you." She whispered, snarling faintly. "Who wants their dick cut off first?"

Miroku's lips quirked. "Not exactly a damsel in distress, Inuyasha."

The samurai looked from her to each other, then to the advancing party of youkai and humans. One mumbled softly and the others nodded before turning quickly and running from the scene.

She frowned. She had not seen or sensed the others approaching. She shook her head and looked at the sword, then back toward the retreating samurai. "I am entirely not scary enough for that to have worked." She blinked and then followed where the gaze of the samurai had fallen shortly before they'd turned and run. She blinked again, frowned, and then opened her eyes wide in shock as she dropped the sword. "Oh, you've got to be shitting me. Hell no. Fuck no." She stepped back and tripped, falling into the frigid waters and screeching again, causing the advancing party to scowl, some more than others. She shivered and stood, backing further into the water until it came to her thighs. The raven-haired woman with the deep blue eyes followed her with her hands out.

"Calm down. You're all right. We won't hurt you, they're friends," Kagome said softly, smiling in a comforting manner.

Suddenly it was hard to breathe. Her eyes moved from Kagome to the hanyou who was staring at her intently with his molten gold eyes. They seemed to sparkle in recognition. "'Yasha..." She whispered and began to gasp, hugging her chest. The world was going black. She began to slip into the water and then there were warm arms around her. She shuddered and gripped the clothing of whoever it was who was ensuring she didn't get swept downstream. She opened her eyes partially and again met the deep, warm sunshine of his gaze.

He smirked and pulled her fully into his arms. "Hello, Ivy."


	3. Chapter 3

Waking Up-

Everything was fuzzy and yet sharp and unyielding. The light was too bright and the sounds too loud even though she knew, instinctively, that it could not be much quieter. She could hear someone talking a short distance away. He had a deep, controlled voice that sounded almost cultured. Almost. She wasn't sure how she knew, but his speech seemed demeaning. Perhaps it was the contrast of Japanese with English. The first possessed several manners of speaking which enabled a person to know where they stood in society and with the speaker where English did not. The smooth cruelty of the words coupled with the individual's crass but cultured speech patterns were enough for her to feel a knot forming in her chest.

"Whoever she is matters little in comparison with what her presence means. Surely you grasp that the presence of someone who, by all accounts, is no more than your foolish fantasy means that for months now, nearing a full year, there has been one who knows of our every move, who we are and even our weaknesses. Are you so stupid that you do not see how dangerous she is?"

It was hard to breathe but she managed to calm herself. She was warm and in something entirely encompassing. It took her a moment of reflection without opening her eyes to realize she'd been placed in a sleeping bag and that, in all likelihood, she hadn't been dreaming her rather jarring encounter. The knot in her chest tightened a few degrees more as another voice continued the line of question that made her internally shudder. This voice, however, was smoother and less repressed. There was something in the first voice aside from his thinly veiled contempt for whoever he was speaking to, akin to barely controlled rage that terrified her entirely, not present in the new gentle, warm baritone that reminded her of her grandfather's singing voice.

"You realize that he has a point. You told us she has been visiting you in dreams, both waking and sleeping, for months now without informing us of her presence. Whether or not you thought she was real or of any danger to us aside, you should have told us what was going on at least for our sake. For Kagome's sake."

"She's awake," That voice. That voice terrified her. There was a snarl behind his words and a kind of anger she couldn't place.

Her breathing quickened and, suddenly, the knot in her chest clenched and she began to panic. Without speaking or thinking, she jumped up and ran in the opposite direction of the voices. Branches, thorns and rocks tore at her feet and legs and hair ruthlessly as she charged unknowingly toward a nearby gully. She swallowed a sharp cry as gravity attempted to claim her. She was falling and then she simply wasn't. Warm arms slipped around her waist and then she was airborne and in the treetops. She whimpered and covered her face as she attempted to recapture her breath. An instant later, she was on the ground again and still held tightly by a strong embrace.

"Ivy." His voice was so soft it sounded foreign to him. "Ivy, open your eyes."

It was as if her vocal cords were frozen for an instant and then there were the other male voices again as they caught up calling to the one who held her. Calling to Inuyasha. Her palms were damp, she realized, and her breathing was returning to normal. She pulled back her hands and looked at her tears that had wet her skin and then noted how carefully she was cradled against his chest. She looked up and met very concerned golden eyes framed by the most beautiful snowy mane of silk she could have ever imagined. She reached up and caressed his cheek, leaving a trail of her tears against his jaw. "I'm not going to wake up, am I, Inuyasha? This isn't a dream and I'm not ever going to wake up..."

"What the hell is going on here, Dog Breath?"

He felt her tense and he held her even closer as her hand tangled into his hair. "Shut up, Kouga," he murmured and leaned to touch his brow to hers comfortingly. "She's been through enough."

"Why did she run?" The smooth voice caught her attention. She turned flashing blue-green eyes on Miroku, and he felt his breath catch. He didn't need for Inuyasha to answer him.

"The fear rolls off her even now, though less that she has found a protector," he watched her carefully with molten amber eyes. Her coloring was entirely wrong for their part of the world, as was her height. He had only seen such coloring in the strange foreigners that had visited Japan recently and then only in the males who worked the strange ships. He raised a brow slightly as he noted her blatantly staring at him and meeting his gaze. Her fear was ebbing and it disturbed him. "Have you no control over your gaze, girl?"

"I am controlling my gaze..." She'd said the words without thinking. For a moment she had been caught up in seeing the actual countenance of four entirely handsome men and, while in the arms of one such man, who, for reasons beyond her understanding, made her feel secure while she was caught up in what should have been just a figment of someone's imagination, had forgotten that she should have been afraid for her life from the blatant coldness and hostility she could both hear and sense in the now flesh and blood Sesshomaru and Kouga. She trembled and diverted her eyes by swiftly pressing her face into Inuyasha's shoulder and groaning slightly. "Goddess, I must have a death wish," she murmured and slipped her arms around Inuyasha's neck.

He leaned to breathe in the soft scent of her hair. He couldn't fathom why her closeness was so easy for him to accept. He hated being touched so needlessly and even more, he was usually entirely embarrassed by such shows of affection and yet... He couldn't push her away. "Kagome and Sango are probably back from the village with clothes for her. We should get back."

"She should be questioned now that she is awake, Inuyasha," Miroku said softly as he watched with a slight pang of sympathy for the girl who was now trembling in his friend's embrace.

He stiffened and felt her tighten her grip around his neck, her fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck. Gently he ran a hand along her spine and relaxed as some of the tension left her. "She ain't gonna be interrogated till she's ready and even then she'll be asked nicely."

"She knows you. Knows us from what you said, Mutt," Kouga ground out as his icy eyes flashed feral. "Who says she ain't left over from Naraku?"

"She does not smell of him, Kouga," the tension she had heard earlier, that tight control that had incited her panic, had faded back substantially and added to her already frustrating level of confusion. "All of his minions, even Kohaku for a time, had the stench of Naraku and the tainted Shikon no Tama on them. Her scent is... Not clean, but clean of him."

She was suddenly and painfully aware of the thin layer of film on her created by sweat, blood and earth that had collected on her. She wrinkled her nose and tried to slip out of the hanyou's arms but he would not release her. She looked up and met his frown with a slight furrowing of her brows and the faint reddening of her cheeks. "I really just want a bath..."

"Sango and Kagome went to a town to get you some clothing... Ivy, is it?" Deep violet eyes crashed again into clear green-blue pools. Miroku fought the urge to move to the girl's side and comfort her. Her eyes held a dream-like quality that usually only remained a few moments when the first vestiges of wake were invading one's sleep. Her eyes were far away and terribly lost. When she nodded he smiled slightly and continued. "They'll take you to a spring so you can clean up and Kagome can look at your cuts. It may be hard for you to walk for a few days."

"She isn't going out alone into the woods with my Kagome," he found two sets of similarly shaded yellow eyes bleeding to red falling on him while similar snarls intoned an unspoken, instinctual message to back down. He snarled faintly and stepped back. "We don't know who she is. We can't trust her with Kagome."

"She ain't gonna hurt Kagome," he ground out as an overwhelming rush of possessiveness took him. He knew Ivy. He knew her well enough to know she'd never harm anyone with intent unless they deserved it. The girl fretted over smashing spiders even though she was terrified of them.

"And, as Kagome has not given validity to your claim, wolf, I suggest that you end your fruitless claims on her," he said softly, however the whispered intensity was even more overwhelming than the thinly veiled control she had heard in his voice before and she found herself once again shuddering and clinging to Inuyasha.

Miroku frowned as he watched the scene before him. Kouga had been playing a dangerous game since the evening before when Kagome had made her wish on the Shikon no Tama. Thinking her his heart's desire and path to happiness, he had assumed she would be his. For reasons beyond his understanding, the posturing of the wolf had riled the dread taiyoukai more severely than he had ever witnessed before in Sesshomaru's confrontations with Inuyasha. The ire of Sesshomaru of the West toward Kouga matched evenly with his hatred of Naraku. Inuyasha had made his usual show for Kagome, however, his anger came from Kouga presuming Kagome's feelings and not giving her a choice rather than him outright claiming her. The air was becoming thicker now that Kouga had once again claimed the miko for himself. What had caught Miroku's attention with renewed interest was, because Kouga had insulted Ivy by implying she was not trustworthy, Inuyasha's beast had seethed to the surface in ways it had never done before when the wolf had attempted to claim Kagome.

"Inuyasha..."

"What, Monk?"

"Let me take Ivy back to the camp. It seems you three have things to... Discuss and, in her current state, it might not be advisable to keep her in the middle of the fray."

The hanyou turned bloodied eyes on his friend and nodded slightly before disengaging the trembling girl from his arms with care and tenderness. He smoothed her cheek with a clawed hand and met her panicked gaze. "I won't be far. Gotta put the wolf in his place," when she nodded and curled into Miroku's arms a bit more he met the monk's eyes and snarled just slightly. "Keep your hands to yourself, Letch. She don't need you messin with her too."

Miroku nodded and diverted his gaze to the girl in his arms who still seemed caught in the same dream-like state, "You have my word, Inuyasha. Perhaps later you will enlighten us, with her help, exactly what it is between the two of you."

He looked to his brother who was slowly stalking toward a bristling Kouga. "Just dreams," he murmured.

His lips quirked slightly and he nodded before turning back toward camp. She whimpered and covered her face with both hands. "You are alright, Ivy."

"I'm waiting to wake up..."

"You are awake."

She blinked and looked between her fingers so she could meet his gaze. Slowly she let her hands fall and, he noted, with her hands, so fell the lost and dreamy gaze she had held for so long. "Oh..."

When she was out of range, he rushed forward and caught the wolf by the throat before his brother could reach him and pinned him forcibly to a sturdy tree. Kouga yelped and struggled. He tightened his grip aided by his affronted and territorial beast's strength. "I ain't gonna say this but once more. Kagome ain't your woman. She ain't mine. She ain't anybody's but herself. I ain't got no idea why you got my stupid-ass half-brother so riled, but you best get out of here once I say what I gotta say or else he just might melt you and that would upset Kagome, so it ain't gonna happen. Ivy ain't a threat. She's just a girl, a woman who lived in my dreams for a while and now she's real and I'll be damned if I let anybody hurt her. So know this. If you lay a hand, one finger or hair on her to cause her harm or otherwise, Sesshomaru melting you will seem like heaven compared to what I'll make you suffer."

"What's she to you, anyway, Mutt?" He growled, but had managed to calm as his sense of self preservation clicked in.

The hanyou smiled a dark, sinister smile. "Ain't none of your business, but she's my friend. She makes me laugh. Don't know what powers brought her here, but she was and since she's been living in my dreams, that makes her my responsibility. You got me?"

He looked over the hanyou's shoulder at the slowly calming taiyoukai. His life had flashed before his eyes as Sesshomaru had advanced on him. He had thought it was the end. It seemed he might survive after all. He returned his gaze to Inuyasha, and then looked down submissively. "I got you. Let me go and get back to my pack."

He slowly released Kouga and stepped back. "Don't come back unless you get invited. Only friend you got here is Kagome and after you claiming her so goddamn much last night, I doubt she's gonna want to see you for a while if she can help it."

Kouga smirked haughtily. "Don't boss me."

"I'd think you would have a better sense of self preservation," Sesshomaru said icily from behind Inuyasha. He had taken the moment to curtail his rage and was back in control, however, how long he remained in control was entirely dependent on Kouga's next actions and words.

The wolf bristled and snarled before backing away cautiously. "I'll be back to check in on her. Best you both make sure that dream-wench doesn't do anything that causes her harm."

A growl built up in his throat as he watched Kouga run from them toward the Northeast. He turned slowly as he felt the intensity of Sesshomaru's gaze falling on his back. He studied his half brother and then slowly raised a brow. "What?"

The taiyoukai raised a brow in response. "More than dreams rest between the two of you if your beast so rallied to her defense without attempting to overtake your senses, Inuyasha."

"You gotta be feeling something real different than your usual chill toward Kagome for you to get so protective of her and her freedom. We wanna actually ask the questions on our minds or just keep dancing, Sesshomaru?"

His lip snarled just faintly before he turned from his bastard brother back toward camp.

"Didn't think so, you asshole," he grumbled and followed the so very proper taiyoukai back to camp.

Miroku walked into camp to find Kagome and Sango arriving as well carrying several parcels they acquired in town. "Ah, here you both are."

Sango raised a brow in suspicion. "What have you been up to, Monk?"

"Ivy was frightened into consciousness and bolted into the forest. Inuyasha asked me to return her while he and Sesshomaru dealt with Kouga," he said simply as he sat down the still trembling girl onto Kagome's sleeping bag. "Her feet are worse, Kagome. They are bleeding through the bandages you put on before you left."

Kagome nodded and approached the trembling young woman. She laid down the parcels and then pulled out her first aid. "You really hurt yourself, Ivy... You should stay off your feet until the wounds close up a bit more."

"Is there somewhere I could bathe, please?" Her voice wavered only slightly as she spoke. Kagome raised her gaze and met the young woman's eyes. "I'm covered in blood and dirt and sweat and I just want to wash it off me."

Kagome smiled and nodded. "There's a cool spring just about half a mile away. Sango and I could help you reach it and then we could make sure you aren't hurt... Anywhere else."

"They didn't catch me," she said with certainty. "The samurai... They didn't catch me. I think they were planning to toy with me at first and then I fought them and hurt them... And then you came along. The most I'm hurt are a few cuts and bruises and maybe a sprained ankle."

"So you aren't harmed except superficially?" Miroku asked with a raised brow from where he stood with a calming Sango.

Ivy smirked and nodded slightly. "Aside from being in a world I thought was just some anime series, I'm completely fine with the exception of those cuts and bruises I mentioned."

"Wait... Anime?" Kagome's eyes widened slightly at Ivy's comment. When the woman nodded in response, she sat back. "So... Wherever you're from, my life... Everything I've gone through is an anime?"

"And a manga. I've only read or watched the English translations. Normally... Normally the most I can say in Japanese is baka and hai."

"You seem fluent now," Sango said softly. The girl, on first meeting, seemed crass and excitable like a certain hanyou she knew very well. Listening to her once she'd calmed down at least somewhat, her speech was cultured and controlled.

"I wonder..." She murmured and looked to Kagome. "Do you have a pen and paper?"

Kagome nodded and handed her a spiral notebook and pen and watched as Ivy began to write slowly and in an expert script. Some of the tension in her cut and bruised body began to fade. Kagome reached out a hand and stilled the girl in her writing when tears fell from her green eyes. "What's the matter, Ivy?"

"I was afraid... I wouldn't be able to read or write. It's really funny when you're just going through life. You say that you couldn't live or be happy if this or that was taken from you, but you never really know. Not until something happens when you're faced with that kind of situation. If I'd lost the ability to understand script and express myself through words, I think... No, I know that I'd be broken forever. It's funny what really matters to you when you haven't got anything left."

Kagome smiled sadly and leaned her head on Ivy's shoulder. The girls leaned together and held each other's hands gently with closed eyes for a moment before Kagome replied. "I know what you mean. If you know my story, then you must know about how I get home."

"The well." She sighed and squeezed Kagome's hands. "It closed with the wish, didn't it?"

"Yes," her voice was heavy with tears. Several yards away two half brothers froze upon hearing the sorrow in the miko's voice and the camp stilled even more at her words. "It makes you wonder who is really calling the shots and if everything really will turn out for the best."

"It will."

"You just appeared out of nowhere, apparently torn from your own reality and thrown into ours. It must feel like some sort of horrible nightmare for you... I know it did for me when I was thrown into the past."

She laughed a short, musical little laugh and embraced the miko who was weeping softly into her hold. "Nightmares are just dreams waiting to find their happily ever after, Kagome. I'm afraid... I'm terrified and I realize that there's a chance I'll never go home again. But there's one thing I know," she pulled back and brushed the tears from Kagome's cheeks gently as her own fell. "No matter what happens, I'm still myself. All of me is still intact and as long as that remains true, I can make any place I want into a home. I refuse to be forced into a corner by fate and neither should you."

Inuyasha felt himself smile slightly at her words, though Sesshomaru frowned. "How can you be so strong when you've just lost everything?"

"I haven't lost everything, Kagome. Neither have you. And I'm not strong, I'm just too proud to let myself fall," Kagome laughed and sighed sadly.

"We should get you somewhere to clean up. Oh... I forgot to ask. What year and where are you from?"

"California in the year 2007," Kagome helped her stand and Sango walked over to help the girl hobble between her self and the miko to the nearest spring. "Goddess, I hate feeling helpless."

Sango's eyes widened slightly. "So you're from four years in the future from Kagome's current year..."

"Yeah, I guess. So... In this reality you've been here... Almost five years?" Ivy looked to Kagome out of the corner of her eyes.

"Six years, actually. From when I was fifteen. That was 1996, so, yeah, six years back and forth through the well fighting Naraku. I got through high school, barely, and then through college by taking mainly Internet courses. I, actually, just finished an accelerated program for my bachelor's degree in history about six months ago," she sighed but smiled. "I decided that if the well stayed open or closed, I'd at least have an advantage here."

"Well planned. All I can do is sing and write," she said with slight mirth in her voice. "Compared to all of you, aside from Rin, I'm probably the only damsel in distress. Where is Rin, by the way?"

"She and Kohaku took Kirara and went with Shippo and his father for a few days. Jaken and Ah Un were sent to look after them, much to the little toad's duress," Sango replied with mirth in her words. "It was decided that since Kouga couldn't act more dignified, until things could be worked out, the children would stay away."

Ivy trembled slightly. "He was definitely being rather territorial. His tone terrified me."

"That's why you ran?" Kagome asked with a raised brow.

"I woke up to Sesshomaru, Miroku and Kouga talking to Inuyasha about me. When he noticed I was awake, I bolted, I was so terrified. Then, when they caught up to me after Inuyasha caught me before I fell into a gulch, something about his tone... It terrified me and, apparently, pissed Sesshomaru and Inuyasha off beyond words. That's when Miroku took me from Inuyasha and brought me back to camp."

"What did he say?" Sango questioned and helped Ivy put more of her weight on the slayer's shoulders as they walked.

"He was claiming Kagome as his and claiming that I was dangerous and had to be dealt with," she winced and trembled while they walked, attempting to bite back her pain. "Both of their eyes were bleeding red, but I knew I was safe... Somehow I knew they wouldn't hurt me."

Kagome frowned and gripped Ivy's waist to steady her. "We're almost there, just a little further... That's what he was going on about last night after I made the wish. He was setting off Inuyasha a bit, which I expected, but I didn't expect Sesshomaru becoming so angry and..."

"Territorial?"

"No... Protective," her frown softened slightly and sighed, contemplating her response to Ivy. Kagome thought a moment before speaking further. "Inuyasha just wants me to be happy. I realized a long time ago that was all he wanted for me and that he'd do anything to make sure that happened... And that I was safe. Once, when I was young, we were close to love. When Kikyo was just a memory and my soul was whole, I think he was falling in love with me just like I was with him, but then she was resurrected and even now... Even years later, he sees her in me. Not that it's too far from the truth. I'm her reincarnation and by ensuring I'm happy, he'll know she's happy too, but... Last night I saw the kind of protectiveness I remember from Inuyasha before Kikyo was resurrected in Sesshomaru and from Inuyasha, the concern and protectiveness of a friend... And it worries me to think what that might mean."

"You think it has to do with the wish, don't you?" Sango asked softly as concern flooded her features. "Kagome, your wish has ensured that Kohaku lived and that Shippo had his father returned to him and Kouga's wolf pack was even brought back from the grave..."

"Who knows what else it did, though, Sango. I wished for the happiness of all whose lives were touched by the Shikon no Tama... And that includes Sesshomaru and Rin. If my wish is somehow affecting Sesshomaru... Enchanting him, somehow, we have to find a way to stop it. Sesshomaru would hate it if he were being controlled by a wish."

"What if... What if the two of you could be truly happy together, Kagome? What if all he needed was a slight shift in perspective?"

"Ivy... Don't be silly, alright? You might know a lot about our world, but you don't know Sesshomaru. Aside from Jaken and Rin, the only other person who knows Sesshomaru remotely is Inuyasha and you have to know how much he hates him," Kagome replied softly as they approached the spring. The slayer and miko helped Ivy sit and then joined her on the ledge of the spring. "We need to make sure that he knows what's happening and find out how you got here, Ivy. The sooner we know, the sooner we can get you home."

She nodded and winced as she began removing her bandages. "Yasha isn't the only one who wants you to be happy, Kagome."

The miko knelt and helped her remove the bandages as Sango set up the soaps for their bath. Kagome swallowed thickly before speaking. "You know him fairly well, don't you, Ivy?"

She blinked and studied Kagome for a moment before speaking. "As well as you can when you think someone's a figment of your imagination taken from a cartoon, Kagome... I don't really know him... Not the way I would need to be able to say that I know him well... What I do know is that I trust him and feel safe with him and that's it."

"He seems to think he knows you fairly well."

"Kagome, look at me," deep blue eyes met clear blue-green orbs with flashing intensity. Ivy smiled faintly and sighed. "I'm just some girl who fell out of the sky this morning... Or last night... Or whenever. You're his best friend. I can't take that place and I don't want to, not ever. No matter what happens, you came first... And, really... I would like to find a way home, if only to save my friends and family the pain of never knowing what happened to me."

Kagome blinked and smiled warmly to Ivy. "I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me."

She smirked and then winked playfully at Kagome. "Probably the same thing that came over Kouga. From what I understand, he's claimed you almost from day one. Sometimes it's hard to admit or even comprehend that what we want with all our hearts isn't what we need with all our being. You love Inuyasha, but... If you get too focused on one person, you chance not seeing other possibilities."

"You sound like you're routing for Sesshomaru," Sango said, fighting the laughter in her voice, though her eyes widened along with Kagome's when Ivy shrugged.

"Maybe I am... Perspective is funny, you know? You get too far or too close from a situation and you can't see it all properly. Maybe I'm at just the right distance from it all."

Kagome shook herself mentally and physically for a second, then smiled playfully at Ivy. "Come on. Let's all get cleaned up and your wounds cleaned so we can get back to camp."


	4. Chapter 4

Backlash-

She slid a bit deeper into the cool water and sighed as the soft current curled around her body as she sat on the smooth, rocky base. Kagome and Sango were in similar reposes nearby in the spring with their eyes half closed in thought. Her mind was fraught with the worry and fear her absence from her own reality must have caused her family, her friends and her roommate, Besse. She wondered what the fiery little red-head would say if she knew that her best friend and source of half of the rent was luxuriating in a cool spring in feudal Japan with two characters from an anime. She wondered what would become of her two cats and if her little brother would ever fall in love. She wondered if her family would ever stop searching for her or if they would die with the hope that one-day she would reappear unscathed but with a mammoth amount of explaining to do. She wondered if they would all find a way to move on and forget her. Perhaps they might buy a gravestone for her and pretend she was in the earth so they could continue with their lives after a while. She didn't know and she couldn't afford to dwell on it. Not now. Not when there might be a way home. If Kagome's wish on the Shikon no Tama caused her to fall into this reality along with Sesshomaru's sudden shift in perspective, Inuyasha's inner peace, Kohaku's survival and the resurrection of Kouga's pack and Shippo's family, perhaps there was a way to reverse it. Perhaps she could go home.

It wasn't so much that she wanted to leave. How many people actually got the chance to walk with their favorite fictional characters and live alongside them? Aside from the more modern conveniences and needing to learn to squat and pee in the woods post haste, there were a lot of reasons never to go home. The world was simpler, moved slower, was cleaner and relatively easier. And then there was the uneasy and yet so very easy draw she felt to Inuyasha. It unnerved her and still felt so very right in her heart and mind. A part of her puzzled out that it was the effect of the wish that must have been making her feel this way, but then... How did she know the wish brought her to him in the first place? If she were supposed to be there for him, wouldn't she have been materialized closer to Inuyasha and not to a pack of horny samurai in the middle of the woods, miles away from his campground? And could she be so bold as to claim that she, not Kagome, would make Inuyasha happy... Lastingly happy? No. She couldn't. But... Perhaps it was more. Perhaps, because in this reality, she had a connection to Inuyasha and her life touched through this reality's Shikon no Tama to Inuyasha's life, her happiness was also being ensured? That seemed like a rather far-reaching stretch, even for her. Her eyes fell on Kagome and noted the faint blush on the girl's cheeks even though the water was only a few degrees away from actually being cold and not pleasingly cool. In the short time that she had been in the miko's presence, Kagome had only blushed on mentioning her with Sesshomaru.

Ivy tilted her head in further contemplation. What if the wish was coming true? What if, to have lasting happiness for them both, their point of views had to be equally shifted? What if Kagome was beginning to feel what Ivy was certain Sesshomaru was already experiencing after witnessing his territorial stance in the miko's name? Ivy smiled faintly to herself, but the expression was held so deeply, her lips upturned slightly as well. She hoped and said a silent prayer to that effect that they didn't find a way to reverse the wish. She knew it meant that she would probably never go home again, but she felt such a strong kinship for Kagome and even for the stoic Taiyoukai of the West, that she could only wish for their happiness too. Part of her silently promised that she would help further the direction of the wish if she had the power.

"We should probably head back soon," Sango said softly but did not move from her place.

"Yes... The boys will be worried," Ivy concurred.

"Let them be worried. I'm not ready to move yet," Kagome replied and smiled with the other two girls before closing her eyes to relax for a few more moments.

A shift in perspective was what Ivy had said. Was that what had happened the night before when Kouga had become so territorial and Sesshomaru so protective? Kagome sighed and thought back to the evening prior, the evening just after Naraku had been destroyed and defeated utterly by herself, Inuyasha and Kohaku to recover the final portion of the Shikon no Tama along with Magatushi who had been ended by Sesshomaru, Sango and Miroku working together with Shippo who was protecting Rin. At the last possible moment, Kouga had entered into the fray to distract Naraku. It had given Kagome the moment she'd needed to reach out and purify the area of Naraku's grotesque, inhuman, unnatural form where the jewel rested.

Inuyasha had managed to slice deeply enough into their foe for Kohaku to retrieve the nearly complete jewel and pull Kagome free from the villain. Then, together, Kagome and Inuyasha had combined their powers to destroy the evil hanyou utterly, expunging him from the earth. At the same time, several miles away in Kaede's village, Sesshomaru slowly cut apart Magatushi with Tenseiga in one hand and Bakusaiga in his regenerated hand with Sango's help to distract the evil monster from within the gem. At the same time Miroku sucked in the parts that were sliced away with his cursed palm. In the end, Kaede had given up the last of her pure life force to purify the remainder of Magatushi from Rin's small form that Shippo had been protecting throughout the battle with his fox-fire and the evil that had resided within the Shikon no Tama as well as the evil that had sought to claim it were gone from the earth and Kagome was left with the final task of wishing the jewel out of existence and dispersing the good energy remaining within it throughout the world.

There had been a bittersweet reunion over the corpse of Kaede as Kohaku had bid Sango, Rin and the others goodbye. He knew that he would not survive the removal of his final shard. Kagome had thought it would kill her to take it from him and she knew she couldn't do it alone. As Sango held her brother tightly to her chest, weeping, Kagome removed the shard. She fused the Shikon no Tama back together completely for the first time in six years. Kohaku's breath began to rattle and then, as if by divine influence, she'd made the wish. Kohaku hadn't died. Kouga heard the howl of his pack in the distance. Shippo's father stood at the edge of the forest, alive and calling to him. The tension she'd always seen in her best friend, Inuyasha, fled his body. Miroku's eyes fell on Sango in the softest, warmest way she'd ever seen and, briefly, she could have sworn she'd seen a softening in Sesshomaru's gaze as it fell on her. And then she'd realized Kaede had not woken and returned from the dead.

They'd cremated her and buried her ashes that day next to Kikyo's monument and then they had decided to camp out a few miles from the village and from the well after Kagome had returned only to verify that it had closed completely. She was trapped in the past and she'd never been able to say goodbye to her mother. That evening in camp, the calm had been damaged by Kouga's declarations that his true and lasting happiness was with Kagome at his side as his mate. And then things had become violent. Kagome and Sango had decided it was best for Shippo's father, Kisho, to take the children along with Kirara, Jaken and Ah-Un away from the fray. The tall nine-tailed kitsune in his human form did as he was asked, leaving directions to his den, and then they were all left to discover where the wish would lead them.

And then Ivy had appeared out of nowhere. The already tense Kouga and Sesshomaru had been distracted, but Kagome hadn't liked the way they were distracted. Both she and Sango, while surprised at the foul mouth, saw a light, vulnerable young woman before them who had the strength to fend off her attackers. She didn't seem a threat, however, both men in their testosterone driven state had seen her as such. Kagome was only glad that Inuyasha and Miroku had not and, instead, defended the girl from the two dangerous full-blooded youkai.

"They're coming."

Kagome's eyes flashed open and looked toward Ivy with a raised brow. She had just begun to feel the presence of Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and Miroku approaching them. Sango looked to the miko in question. "The boys must have decided to break camp since Kouga left... They're coming this way right now..." She looked to the still relaxed form of Ivy. "How did you know that?"

She opened her eyes slowly and shrugged before sitting up with a wince. Her back hurt from colliding with the riverbed earlier that morning. "I just... I had a feeling. You know when sometimes you know who is calling before you even pick up the phone or have a feeling about what someone is going to say before they say it? Or that something bad is going to happen?"

Kagome nodded slightly as did Sango. "You have those feelings, Ivy?" The slayer asked with curiosity in her gaze.

Ivy nodded. "I have since I was young. Nothing big, I just... Know things sometimes. Sometimes it's helpful and sometimes just there and other times a damn nuisance. Like guessing the end of a story before you get to the last chapter or even halfway through."

"If they are on their way, we should probably let them know to pause so we can dress and get your wounds bandaged, Ivy," Kagome said, loud enough that she knew at least Sesshomaru would pick up on the sound.

In the distance, the Taiyoukai put out his hand to still the other two men with him who now carried Kagome's things and bag along with the rest of the camp that had been packed up. Inuyasha smirked to Miroku and then nodded to his brother before jumping up into a branch to perch. "Gonna take a while, you know."

"Hn."

Miroku chuckled. "Well, at least they know we're ready to go and aren't making a fuss over it."

"Hn."

Ivy surveyed the two outfits that Kagome and Sango had purchased for her. The first was a traditional, though simple, pale blue kimono and yukata and the second what reminded her of traditional miko garb only in a similar shade of blue for the haori and a deeper blue for the hakama. Kagome and Sango had helped her with her breast bindings which were made of soft white linen and then had bandaged her cuts before explaining there was nothing in this time that even remotely resembled panties, much to Ivy's distress. In the end, she had sighed and chosen the haori and hakama for the simple ease of traveling and movement. In all honesty, she wasn't sure she could even keep her legs closed well enough to don the kimono. In all likelihood, she'd forget at a very inopportune time and sit cross-legged in one of the men's view. Once dressed, she combed out her curly hair and braided it over one shoulder loosely for the sake of travel and the boys were called to them once Sango and Kagome were also dressed. Kagome had slipped into more traditional feudal era clothing as well, neatly folding her other clothing and Ivy's and then slipping them into her pack.

"Kisho's den is about five or six miles to the West. We should be able to make it there by tomorrow morning." The miko said softly, careful not to look at Sesshomaru for the moment.

"Someone must carry the girl." Sesshomaru replied in soft tones, vaguely annoyed that Kagome had not yet looked at him. Since the night previous he had begun taking stock of all her good points and had not yet found a place or part that he did not see some virtue worth admiration. Yes, she was human, however he had noted his view on humans had somewhat shifted to that of his father. Inuyoukai were strengthened by their relationships to humans, not weakened. His kind should be closer to them rather than further away. The shift in perspective was unnerving at first. He couldn't account for it until he'd contemplated the miko's wish. As he evaluated his feelings, he realized that this slight shift in perspective was enough to disengage most of his animosity and spite that had made him so unhappy over the years. It seemed only a happy bi-product that he could also see Kagome so clearly and had found such an abiding respect for her person.

"I will." Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha staring at Ivy with a curious look on his face. The hanyou turned his gaze to the miko a moment later and raised a brow. "Think it would be ok?"

"If Ivy doesn't mind. I'm not the one you should be asking, Inuyasha." Kagome replied with a slight wave of her hand.

Inuyasha smirked and sat beside Ivy on the ledge of the spring, leaning slightly into her form. "What do you say, then?"

Ivy smiled slightly and nodded before shifting her gaze from her hands to his molten gold eyes that were flashing with warmth. "Definitely more efficient that way."

As Kagome finished packing her satchel, Sesshomaru knelt and took it from her, resting the straps on one shoulder. The miko's eyes widened slightly and Ivy giggled. Sesshomaru raised a brow to Kagome. "You refuse assistance?"

"N-no, Sesshomaru... I'm just not used to you wanting to give me any." Kagome replied, finding herself caught up instantly in the almost playful light that sparkled in the Taiyoukai's gaze. It seemed to flood his features even though they had not changed from the stoic mask he always wore. Everything seemed to be caught up in his eyes.

"Perhaps you should accustom yourself." He looked to Inuyasha who was wearing an incredulous, yet placid look. He would have to speak to the hanyou later, it was only correct on his part. In time he would also speak to the slayer and monk about the miko, but, for now, it was best to quell his most annoying half sibling before the half-breed said anything... Brash. "Gather your burden, Inuyasha. We have a long way to go."

The hanyou smirked and nodded and turned his gaze onto the young woman beside him. "I can carry you like I did before or you can ride on my back."

"Which is the most efficient?" She questioned, not certain if she enjoyed being a burden, as Sesshomaru had referred to her.

"My back. My arms don't get tired as fast."

"Ok." She responded and he nodded before moving and kneeling in front of her with his back to her. She furrowed her brows slightly before gathering his long white mane in both hands.

"What... What are you doing?" He asked, trying not to blush with the slight sensation of pleasure that her messing with his hair so gently was sending through him.

Ivy chuckled softly and braided his long locks into a thick braid before laying it over his shoulder and climbing onto his back. "I had to get it out of the way or else there wasn't a way I could have gotten on and not pulled and hurt you."

His arms wrapped around her slender but well muscled thighs as they slipped along his waist, her arms slinking around his shoulders after she pulled the braid onto his back gently beneath one of her arms. "Are you comfortable?" He asked as he stood, her weight pleasantly conforming to his back so he could feel every inch of her curves, even the soft pounding of her heartbeat through her breast as it sped.

She blushed and smiled slightly before resting her head to the side on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She hadn't rode piggyback since she was a child and she had forgotten how comfortable the position could be and how entirely intimate. "Yes, very."

He nodded to the others and attempted to ignore their quizzical as well as entirely playful expressions and hoped that Ivy did not see them from her vantage. His gaze rested on Kagome momentarily and inwardly she sighed. There was peacefulness in her but also confusion. He could tell that she wasn't exactly sure about what she saw between him and Ivy and he, truthfully, wasn't exactly sure himself. The whole thing felt strange and unnerving in the intense rightness of everything. They began walking and Inuyasha smirked as Ivy's legs wrapped entirely around him, linking at his abdomen. Unbidden, he wondered what it would be like for her to be wrapped so tightly around him from the front. He almost tripped at that thought, but caught himself before he hit the ground.

"Yash?" Her voice was concerned as he reached to grab onto a tree to steady his self. He felt her fingers trace along the base of one of his ears, which, really, wasn't helping him at all.

He reached up and caught her hand gently but firmly. He felt the eyes of the others on him and let out a staggering sigh. "I'm ok, Ivy. Just wasn't watching where I was going."

"I'm not too heavy, am I?" Her voice was so soft and concerned. He squeezed her thigh that he still held and tenderly rubbed the palm of the hand he'd captured before returning it to rest over his shoulder.

"No. Not even a little. Don't go blaming yourself for me being klutzy." He felt her nod and relaxed slightly, eternally grateful for the position of where her feet had linked around his torso for the moment. It diverted the gaze of most from other areas he wasn't so pleased with at the moment. Though that didn't stop his brother from noticing by scent and so the hanyou shot the Taiyoukai a murderous, threatening gaze that said, unquestioningly, to keep his mouth shut. "I'm ok, let's keep going."

The others nodded and continued, though Sesshomaru's lips quirked as he made note of Inuyasha's predicament. Perhaps his talk with his brother would prove more beneficial to him than he had originally anticipated. Inuyasha relaxed as the tightness in his belly began to uncoil and his manhood decided to lie down again after much convincing and contemplating thoughts of Kouga and, oddly, Kikyo. The wish had been made the night before and with it he had gained an odd sense of peace and comprehension about his life, primarily with respect to the once living and also once undead miko. He found peace about the death of his mother and his cruel life alone as a half-breed child. He even found peace about Kagome and knew entirely that he simply wanted her to be happy, no matter what form that happiness came in. She was his best friend and he'd hurt her so much that he wondered if he deserved forgiveness. The angel on his back told him that, perhaps, the universe and the divine had already decided he did and that she'd been sent to him so that he could let go and accept when Kagome found her true love. The one that would make her heart sing and not ache the way he did. Until that day came, though, he'd be there to protect her as a brother would his beloved sister.

Miroku watched as Inuyasha carried Ivy so carefully on his back. The girl seemed familiar to him in a very strange way. It was almost as if he were remembering a dream when he looked into her eyes and yet it wasn't his dream. He knew that she was Inuyasha's. His eyes diverted to Sango and some of the tension that had built inside him from the night before and that morning dealing with Kouga, melted away. Things had come into focus after the wish had been made. He understood that what he wanted, who he wanted, was Sango and no other. He had always loved her, perhaps from the first moment he'd seen her, but it was in his nature to give in to his lecherous desires for other women. Sango, for a long time, had been like home to him. No matter where or to whom he roamed, she was where he returned. Now he realized that he didn't want to wander any longer. He wanted to settle down with her and make her his home and heal the damage his wandering had caused. The slayer looked up and met his gaze with that smile he loved so much. He reached out and squeezed her hand, but this time, he didn't let go. He smiled when she blushed and turned his eyes back to their direction. He noticed Kagome sneaking glances now and again at Ivy and Inuyasha as he was, but even more so at Sesshomaru. He raised a brow slightly and smirked. Perhaps he wasn't the only one who had his perspective changed. It was only a matter of time before Kagome gave in, of that he was certain.

She woke slowly and stretched languidly for a moment before looking at her clock. It was Sunday, the only morning she got to sleep in past nine and she always made use of that time to 'dream pretty pictures' as Ivy was so fond of saying. Ivy. Yeah, she was probably unconscious on the couch again. Besse had gone to bed after one but Ivy had still been typing at that time, working on her latest story. She was going to be grouchy waking up. She always was when she accidentally spent a night on the couch and not in her bed. Oh well. Besse would make her some toast for breakfast while she made herself some coffee and the world would be shiny again.

She walked out into the living room and found the couch empty, but the computer still open on the coffee table. Besse shrugged and closed the laptop so it would go to sleep and then went to Ivy's bedroom. The little redhead's eyes flashed open in confusion. The bed was empty. Besse began searching for a note on her door or near Ivy's computer but found none. The door was locked. Besse rushed downstairs to find Ivy's car still parked in its space. Upon returning to the apartment, Besse dialed Ivy's number only to hear her best friend's cell phone ring across the room. She tried to pace her breathing, but couldn't. Where was she? Why hadn't she told Besse if she was going somewhere? Why would she leave her phone behind? What in the hell was going on?

He shouldn't be breathing. He knew he shouldn't. The last thing he remembered was being destroyed by the miko, Kagome, and that bastard Inuyasha. And yet, he was breathing. He was taking in deep, strong breaths. He sat up slowly and looked around. His eyes fell on another who sat across the clearing from him, staring at him with deep, almost golden brown eyes. He was familiar and yet not familiar. "Who are you?"

"You knew me as Magatushi and I knew you as Naraku." He said in a low, silken voice. "Apparently, somehow, you were reborn in your human form, and I in the weak, lower youkai form of my birth," he scowled softly. As a three two tailed kitsune, he had little more power than it would take to create basic illusions. He wasn't even particularly handsome. "You are now Onigumo and I am Kenshi."

He raised a brow and snarled. "We are powerless, then."

Kenshi laughed cruelly. "Oh, no, Onigumo. We are not powerless. We simply have not yet regained our true strength." He stood and walked to the ebony haired man before him and met his deep mahogany eyes intently before putting out his hand. "We have a similar goal. We wish to destroy our enemies. Together we can find the strength to do just that and gain our revenge."

He looked at the hand before him and then up into the eyes of the man before him. After a moment he nodded and reached out. Kenshi pulled him up to stand and the two smiled at each other darkly. "Come. Let's set about our revenge."

Kenshi chuckled. "Yes. Let us."

She had shifted against him for a fourth time in as many moments. She hadn't made any complaint, but if she kept moving against him, he was going to have a definite problem in a few moments that her linked legs wouldn't be sufficient to hide. "Ivy, we can stop if you need to stretch your legs."

"Hmmm?" She was pulled out of her reverie of thought by his voice and had murmured into his neck. "No, I'm ok."

He trembled slightly at the warmth of her breath on his neck. Maybe she didn't need to stop, but he did. He needed to jump into an icy brook for a while. His eyes fell on Kagome. Certainly she'd help him. "Kagome... Do you need to rest?"

She blinked and looked to Inuyasha. "I... Not really, do you?"

"Are you tired, Little Brother?" He fought back the smile that was threatening as he observed Inuyasha's plight. He almost felt sorry for him, recognizing he'd be in no better state if Kagome were riding on his back so tightly coiled around him, but to see the hanyou in such a state with the rest of his party so blissfully ignorant was beyond amusing. However, it bothered him that he did not wish for the half-breed to suffer that kind of torture, especially when his torturer had no idea of her power over him and if she did, Sesshomaru knew instinctively he would want no party in watching Inuyasha's downfall. "It is nearly past second meal. If you are so weary, we could make exception and rest for a short duration."

Inuyasha snarled faintly at Sesshomaru. The bastards knew exactly what was going on and, instead of helping him gracefully discover a way to stop, he'd made it impossible for him to save face and his pride. "I don't need to stop. And you're an asshole."

Ivy whimpered suddenly and then shifted. "I do need to move, now that everyone's talking about it... My legs are cramping up."

Inuyasha let out the breath he'd been holding and headed in the direction of the nearest stream. It was only a dozen or more yards from the path and so not that far to divert. He sat near the stream and settled Ivy behind him before turning and looking at her in concern. She was massaging her calves with a little pout capturing her lower lip. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... Normally I'd just stretch out, but the way I need to do it to get these cramps out I shouldn't do with my feet bandaged up. I'll be ok. The muscles will release in a few moments." She startled as Inuyasha reached out and started massaging her left calf in the same way she was massaging her right. "Yasha... You don't have to do that."

"Maybe you shouldn't curl all the way around me when I carry you again. It ain't helpful if you hurt later." He murmured and looked up into her sparkling blue eyes. They seemed to shift between colors and he found it entrancing. He smiled faintly but did not release her calf and continued to massage. "Don't worry. I want to. Ain't a matter of having to do anything."

She smiled faintly and blushed as she watched him focus on the nasty cramp he'd found. Kagome watched quietly a moment as Miroku and Sango caught up with her and Sesshomaru near the stream. "I've never seen him so gentle," she breathed, knowing only the Taiyoukai, slayer and monk would hear her. The hanyou wasn't paying attention to anything but Ivy's cramping calves and Ivy's hearing wasn't good enough to catch her comment. "If I'd walked in on him like this with Kikyo, I'd have lost it, but... I never saw him this... Happy. Not even with her. Ivy has a powerful effect on him and I... I don't even feel slight jealousy. It has to be the wish that's doing this."

"If it is, Kagome, what do you suggest we do about it?" Sango asked softly.

"We're all being affected on one level or another, Sango." Miroku murmured. "I doubt any of us, though, could say that the effects of the wish are causing us any harm."

"But we're being controlled, Miroku." Kagome murmured and sighed.

"It is not a constant control, Kagome." The Taiyoukai murmured. He met the miko's eyes meaningfully. "If this Sesshomaru was still being controlled, Miko, I would know it. The wish, certainly, shifted our perspectives and returned to those of us what we needed in order to have happy lives in the case of Sango and Kohaku and the kitsune's father, but once its power was spent, the influence ended."

Inuyasha looked up from his task and saw his brother's expression as it fell on Kagome. He frowned faintly but only in concern and not anger. He'd heard Sesshomaru's words and he'd realized rather quickly that the two of them would need to have a serious talk soon. "If you all are finished whispering, there's space to sit down here." He called out with a faint snarl. He paused and looked down to see his hands covered by Ivy's. Her eyes were gentle and warm.

"What is it?"

"They're just worried, Yasha," she murmured and grasped his hands before releasing them. "My legs are alright now."

He smirked slightly and pulled away after another second and then sat near her. Kagome sighed and sat at the base of a tree and rested her head on its trunk as she watched Ivy and Inuyasha sitting together. Her attention was caught as the fearsome Taiyoukai sat beside her. She looked to him and trembled seeing the gentle expression captured in his eyes. He didn't have to say a word and she understood. She leaned gently so her head was resting on his shoulder and she sighed. She knew what Ivy had said about never taking Inuyasha away from her, but she couldn't help it. The girl who fell from nowhere, slipping from Inuyasha's dreams, was taking the place in his heart that she'd always wanted and as much as she was happy for him that he had a chance at happiness, she ached because it wasn't her.


	5. Chapter 5

Sleepless-

The door to Kisho's den was a fine carved wood in the shape of the cave opening. It was only visible and even detectable due to their open invitation, and then it was an easy thing to detect his kitsune musk leading the way to the safety of his home. Kagome approached and could hear the laughter of Kohaku, Rin, and Shippo within and found herself smiling as she knocked.

As the Kisho opened the latch and welcomed the six travelers in, he found his eyes falling on Ivy as she limped with Inuyasha's help into his home. From the outside, one might have made the mistake in thinking the den was one small room. Once inside, the visitor would discover a multitude of well furnished rooms with a kitchen and dining area in the front where the children were playing.

"I see you have found another lost soul," the nine-tail said with a warm smile as he closed the door behind them.

Miroku nodded and smirked to Kisho. "You could say she fell in our laps."

Inuyasha scowled a bit and helped Ivy sit as the children noticed their arrival, rushing to Kagome, Sesshomaru, and Sango. "Guess there should probably be introductions."

"Give them their moment," Ivy said softly with a smile, though he could see the pain from her feet causing a line to form in her brow. "What I wouldn't give for some pain killers… Even arnica would be helpful, but I think it's a European plant…"

Kisho raised a brow and came to kneel next to the exotic young woman. "European… The Westerners who have been seen in their ships? Forgive me, but for one who speaks the language of this land so well, you certainly look foreign."

Her lips quirked as she looked up to meet the kitsune's warm brown gaze. "I can promise I was born nowhere near Europe, Sir. But, might I trouble you for any herbal remedy that might aid in the pain of my current infirmity?"

Sesshomaru looked to Ivy incredulously as she spoke with such formality to Shippo's father. Rin was holding tightly to his left hand and was still telling him about all of the reverie she had been enjoying with Shippo and Kohaku, but his attention had been suddenly stollen, and the little girl silenced in confusion.

Rin looked to the strange woman sitting between Kisho and Inuyasha. Her feet were bandaged, but the cuts were bleeding through enough that at least one bloody footprint was near the threshold. "Sesshomaru, who is the Lady with Inuyasha?"

He could not help but be amused. With the refinement of Ivy's speech, anyone might mistake her for nobility… Unless they'd heard her that morning cursing and taunting the samurai who had been hunting her. Even her address to him had been unsettlingly informal, but now, faced with a complete stranger, her speech had softened. "Her name is Ivy, Rin… And I think her not a Lady, but certainly not uneducated."

Kisho bowed his head and stood. "I have a tea that may be of some assitance, Lady…"

"Ivy."

"Lady Ivy," he began, then smirked when she put up her hand and shook her head.

"Ivy will suffice. My blood is no more noble than the earth beneath our feet," she interjected, smiling softly when he nodded and walked toward the kitchen.

"Oh!" Kagome gasped as she looked at the bloody footprint near where Ivy sat. "Your cuts have opened again."

"I think at least one or two need stitches," she murmured, leaning back on her hands as Kagome knelt before her and began unwrapping her feet. "Damn those samurai to hell."

Rin's eyes widened and Sesshomaru smirked. That was the Ivy he had come to know in such a short time. "Or the wounds could be cauterized. It would be simpler and less susceptible to infection."

Ivy's eyes widened. "Oh, that doesn't sound like any fun at all… But neither does blood poisoning," she met Sesshomaru's gaze steadily. "How do you suggest it be done?"

"None are particularly pleasant… Any of our blades could be heated to red, though I could also assist with my acid."

"Fuck no," Inuyasha felt sick to his stomach at even the suggestion of burning her feet, let alone Sesshomaru pouring his acid all over them. "You'll melt her feet off."

"This Sesshomaru knows more than a few things about human frailty, Inuyasha," he growled softly as Inuyasha stood and took a few steps toward him. He gently pushed Rin behind him in a protective posture. "I would think carefully before you take another step, Little Brother. And I would not harm her… Melt her feet off, as you so callously suggested. Leaving them unattended endangers her health. Were the cuts on another part of her extremities or on her torso, one might have a chance to ensure healing with stitches, but she cannot live the next week or two perpetually carried or held."

He growled and looked to Ivy, and Kagome caught his gaze. "Do you trust him to do this, Kagome?"

She felt some deep part of her tremble and she nodded. "He's right, Inuyasha. She can't take a step without the cuts breaking open again, and some of them are deep enough for stitches. Cauterizing will close the deepest and keep them all from becoming infected…"

"I didn't ask if he was fucking right, I asked you if you trust him," he managed to ground out. He knew Sesshomaru was right about Ivy's feet, and he'd already steeled himself for hearing her agony when it happened, but he didn't trust his brother with his acid on mortal flesh. He trusted Sesshomaru wouldn't intentionally burn her that badly, but he'd only seen his brother use his acid as a murderous weapon against his foes… Including Kagome. If she could trust him to maintain enough control to ensure Ivy was safe and would heal properly, Inuyasha knew that he could as well.

Kagome trembled and looked to Sesshomaru, then back to Inuyasha. There was no question in her mind. His eyes were so steady and certain of his ability, as if he'd done something similar before. "I trust him, Inuyasha."

"Ivy," she met the miko's gaze and felt herself tremble. "You have final say… Swords or acid?"

"Shit," she breathed, then steeled herself. "Acid… I just hope I pass out quickly."

Kisho approached, his gaze steady as he listened to the conversation. He looked to his son, Rin, and Kohaku, then met Sango's gaze. "Take the children out to the glade. They do not need to witness this after what they have already known."

Sango nodded and looked to Miroku. "Stay with them, ok? You might be able to help."

He smirked and nodded. "Just be careful. We have our peace, and I'm not ready to lose you. Not until we are old, wrinkled, and falling apart."

"The glade is protected, Monk. Worry not," Kisho said softly and smiled, then brought the tea to Ivy who took it gratefully. "The bark it is made with will ease and numb your pain… Though it will not kill it entirely."

She let out a little breath and slowly drank the bitter tea. "I doubt anything other than being entirely unconscious would do that trick…" When she finished the tea, she smirked. "I doubt you have anything stronger than tea?"

"A woman after my own heart," Kisho teased, retrieving a bottle of strong rice wine as the others went to prepare a space in one of the back bedrooms to conduct the procedure. He watched her take a few deep swallows from the bottle and he smirked as she gasped a bit. "It is strong…"

"Yeah," she gave him a wan smile. "How much am I allowed?"

"All if it is needed," Kisho leaned against the door jam and tilted his head as he studied her, watching as she slowly began to drink down the full bottle. "Though, may I suggest leaving at least half within… For later."

She smirked and nodded, handing it back to him after one more swallow. The room was spinning. "Still feel I am entitled to the title of Lady?"

He shook his head. "I have known many a noble Lady, Ivy, and none are comparable in bravery nor strength of will… That alone bestows my respect."

"We're ready," Inuyasha moved to Ivy, squatting near her, brushing hair from her brow. He smirked at the blush on her cheeks as she leaned into his touch. "What did you give her?"

"Rice wine… With a few drams of opium to cut the pain," he sighed as Inuyasha gathered her up. She all but passed out in his arms.

"Thank you," Inuyasha breathed, barely able to meet the kitsune's gaze. "I don't think I could have stood it if…"

Kisho gently rested a hand on the hanyou's shoulder and shook his head. "None of us want to hear her screaming. I don't know where she is from, nor what she's endured, but I want the same peace for her as I do the children."

Inuyasha nodded and the two men proceeded to the back bedroom where he lay her onto the futon, resting her head in his lap as his brother gently took her feet onto his knees, having covered them with one of Kagome's thick towels that had been doused in water.

"She may still feel it in her sleep," Sesshomaru murmured and looked to Kagome and MIroku. "Be ready to hold her down. She must be still."

They nodded in response and moved to hold her legs as Kisho knelt beside Inuyasha to still her torso. The taiyoukai focused, excreting just enough acid onto his hand to coat, then applied his hand flush with the base of her foot, feeling her body tense in response.

Her eyes fluttered and she whimpered in her deep slumber, then she began to writhe. It was all he could do not to yank her away from all of them. He didn't care if he needed to carry her every moment. He didn't care if he had to hold her up when she needed to relieve herself, and he didn't care what that would do to her pride either… If only he didn't need to see her in this kind of pain. Inuyasha caressed her jaw, fighting back his beast valiantly, though his eyes began to flash red.

"Inuyasha, hold her!" Sesshomaru growled. His brother's voice was enough to yank him out of his turning and he held her steady even when she began to sob, fighting for consciousness. In reality, it all only took a few moments from beginning to end, but it felt like an eternity. He glanced up and saw Kagome move beside his brother, helping him to clean the remaining acid and blood from the soles of Ivy's feet before bandaging them.

"Is it finished?"

"Yes, I was able to close them all," Sesshomaru replied softly as he looked up to meet Inuyasha's clear golden gaze. He looked back to Kagome as she wrapped Ivy's feet after gently applying the salve she'd made only moments before. He gently put a hand over hers where they shook as she began work on the second of Ivy's feet. He met her gaze and nodded. "You are doing well, Miko. She will walk in only a few days and need not fear loss of her feet."

"I know, it's only…" She looked down at the bandages before beginning to wrap the next foot, focusing carefully on the task. "I did not know you knew anything about healing."

"The other side of battle is as essential as a warrior's stance or skill with a blade," he murmured, watching her care with her task. His gaze rose after a moment to Kisho who handed Inuyasha the half drank bottle of opium infused wine. "Though not originally intended, would you allow us to rest here until the morning after tomorrow, Kisho? Ivy will be in no state for traveling tomorrow, and I am certain the rest of our party could do with a day of rest."

The elder kitsune nodded and smiled to the inuyoukai. "You are more than welcome in my den, though I suggest we take shifts at watch in the evenings. The world has shifted. The sanctity and protection of my den and glade are strong but not ensured as so many have been touched by the Shiko No Tama, and many of those are foes previously defeated."

It was a concern none of them had really delved into. Ivy's appearance had pushed back the conversation, but all knew it needed to be discussed. Sesshomaru stood as Kagome finished and she and Inuyasha carefully covered and made Ivy comfortable. "Come out and leave her to rest once you are finished. There is much we need to talk of before the children return."

He paused at the threshold and looked back on her sleeping form. The lines of agony in her brow had faded, and even the scent of blood from her feet had stilled, replaced with the soft odor of herbs covering the burned pink flesh of her soles. It took everything he had to leave her and close the door. He only managed when his brother softly called his name from the front of the house, and he winced at the realization. Had Kagome called him, or Miroku, he might not have come, but it had been his brother. Some part of him that had long been silenced by hatred and cruelty was being stirred by the inner peace gifted by Kagome's wish, and now his very soul recognized Sesshomaru as alpha. Only his mate could ever afford a stronger claim over him, and it was both disturbing and unnervingly correct how easily he accepted that fact.

When Inuyasha was sitting with them, Kagome relayed the arrival of Ivy to Kisho who took the news with surprising acceptance. His eyes sparkled with a kind of understanding that silenced the group.

"Does it seem so out of the realm of possibility? A pure wish that brought so many peace even to the degree that it resurrected lives long lost would seem weak if it could not also ensure one most touched by the sacred jewel had his dream," Kisho smiled mischievously as Inuyasha looked away and intently at the floor. "But, in seriousness… In our world of magic where a girl can fall through a dry well five hundred years into the past only to become one of its saviors, is it such a stretch to think this might not also be possible? What is imagination but the ability to glimpse into other worlds and possibility? To make the unreal real?"

"You seem impressively accepting, Kisho," Miroku mused, crossing his arms.

"Perhaps you would be also if you had been brought back from death and the underworld. I have been afforded such perspective. As impossible as it seems in her world, we are no more than this anime story Ivy conveyed to you, it must seem ten million times more impossible for her. She was aware of us, knew our stories and now she is a part of the tale. Certainly that is a perspective worthy of consideration, also."

"Were she awake, I'd include her in this conversation," Sesshomaru sighed and shook his head. "But she rests peacefully, and it is all the better for her. As we stand now, countless allies and enemies are back in the world, and I doubt any residual effect of peace from Kagome's wish will keep them unmoving forever."

"How are we to know who?" Kagome asked softly, looking to the highly distracted Inuyasha whose attention seemed entirely focused on the sleeping girl further back in the den. "We could make lists of names, but there's no way to know unless someone goes to search everyone out."

"Feh," Inuyasha sighed and looked up. "So what? We make a list, make camp at that fortress you call home in the mountains, then go running around looking for our arch enemies until we either take them all out or know we're safe?"

"It was a thought at least," Sesshomaru responded, studying his brother. "Those who cannot fight or defend themselves would stay where they are safe and we will begin seeking everyone, or at least the most dangerous out and deal with the threat if there still is one."

"Deal with," Inuyasha smirked and met his brother's gaze. "You mean kill the fuckers before they kill us."

"Yes," his response was not sharp, but it sent a shiver up Kagome's spine. "If it is necessary."

"How do we know if it's necessary?" She asked, meeting Sesshomaru's gaze.

Inuyasha watched carefully as he saw his brother's eyes soften before he responded to Kagome. "When a warrior is poised to draw his sword in battle, there are certain signs one knows… These men and women we have fought… Mortal and youkai alike all have in common one similarity. They are weak when covering their intent. Do not fear us attacking an innocent, Miko. If we rend any from this earth, it will be with the certainty they would have attacked first."

She nodded, feeling the rightness of his statement, but not liking the idea of being the aggressor after having made the wish to bring peace even to her enemies. "I suppose being proactive is better than reactive, but… I just wish they'd have a chance to try to find their own happiness. Couldn't we just give them a running start to what will bring them happiness?"

Miroku frowned. "Even Naraku? Even if he was resurrected and given peace and another chance at what would bring him happiness?"

"That isn't possible or your wind tunnel…"

"I know, Kagome, I'm not saying Naraku is alive," he met her gaze, though she felt the weight of the other men's attention on her in that moment. "After all the death, after everything he's done to us and to you- to the world, would he really have the right to find his own happiness and peace? You know what made that monster happy, Kagome. You saw what his happiness nearly cost Sango and me… All of us."

She looked at her hands and shook her head. "You don't really want me to answer that question, Miroku."

"You're saying you'd…"

"No," she replied sharply, but only at a whisper, her eyes shimmering as she returned his disbelieving gaze. "I'm not saying I'd let him continue in his sadistic quest to destroy everything… I'm not saying I would for any of the darkest of our enemies, but all of this is my fault. Everything from Kisho being resurrected to Ivy falling from the sky is my fault because of my wish. And maybe it's my own stupid hope that if Naraku had been one of the ones brought back and given peace, he'd change. I don't disagree that we should find everyone, but I can't support the idea that we make the first move to end them. Not all of our enemies were monsters, some just made poor decisions, like Kouga. He found the shards and pushed them into his flesh and it changed him. He did horrible things and cost Rin her family… Countless others their lives, but he isn't a monster. So I can't follow all of you down this dark path, but I'll go half way and help you find those resurrected by my wish so we can assess how dangerous their happiness really is… Just don't ask me to do more unless they attack first."

He felt his chest tighten as she spoke. No, not all were monsters. He had done monstrous things while in the pursuit of what he believed would bring him happiness- his father's sword. He'd nearly killed her twice. He'd decimated armies of men when he'd lost his arm and damned a woman to agony for his choices… And then he'd saved Rin's life. Sesshomaru captured Kagome's gaze steadily and he nodded softly. "Then it is the path we will take," he could sense the disbelief of the other men. He'd deal with them in time. "We will seek them out and assess their threat, but do no harm unless they seek our blood… But, Miko… Kagome, I ask only one thing of you from this moment."

Her heartbeat thrummed softly in her ears as it sped. He'd stilled her fears with his gaze, but her name on his lips had been so tender, she could have sworn she felt his caress at her throat. "What is it you need me to do?"

"Do not take so much blame for the outcome of your wish. Too much good has come from the pure hope of your heart, and it washes clean any further responsibility for the choices of those who prove themselves unworthy of your grace," he replied, his gaze never moving from hers until she nodded in response to his request. He bowed his head, closing his eyes halfway in respect. "Thank you, Kagome."

He was looking at the stars when the door to the den opened and the scent of his brother touched his nose. He did not look down from the high hung branch he'd chosen as his perch during his watch that evening. "Is it time for that talk we've been avoiding?"

"It need not be long," Sesshomaru responded as his brother dropped to the ground, crouching a moment before he stood at his full height. Within the last thirty two hours, the two had fallen into the roles of alpha and beta without any show of dominance or submission. It was as he imagined their father had always hoped between them- Sesshomaru leading the Western lands with the pure and ancient devotion to humans and Inuyasha as his second and general. He didn't need to touch on their relationship in that moment. It was so inherent, he doubted he needed to ever say a word about it, but Kagome was another matter. He had been protector of her heart a long while, and as the well no longer allowed him passage to ask permission of her mother, Inuyasha was the most logical. "Do you disapprove of me courting Kagome with the intent of making her my eternal mate as our father did your mother?"

He studied his brother for several moments before he could respond. The question would have been utterly ridiculous a few days earlier, though he'd noted for a long while how Sesshomaru so willingly had protected Kagome when Inuyasha could not. Even in the final battle, Sesshomaru had nearly lost his life to save the little miko… Her wish had simply made his heart warm enough that he could see his own intent. "Do you love her? Can you love her like she deserves?"

"Yes," he surprised himself with his candor. He noted the amused smile brushing Inuyasha's lips. "I can and will love her as she deserves."

"A lot of this is her choice," Inuyasha said softly, leaning against the trunk of the tree, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "You'll need to win her over."

"Easy enough task," he smirked as the hanyou's eyes flashed open. "Your pursuit and care for Ivy frees her heart for me… And she is easy to love," Sesshomaru's gaze flashed with the double meaning of his expression. "As she is worthy, so shall I be."

Inuyasha smirked and shook his head before standing to turn toward the den. "How is the sleeping situation?"

"Kagome, Sango and Miroku are taking shifts to tend Ivy if she needs help in the night," he watched his brother at the door from the corner of his eyes. "Miroku only took over a few moments before I came out. Surely the monk would not mind returning to the demon slayer's bed."

He let a soft laugh escape and he shook his head. "They don't waste time."

"I imagine they are the most intelligent of all of us."

He could not see Inuyasha's cock-sure grin, but he knew it was there. "Yeah, that's for certain."

Once inside, Inuyasha moved silently to the partially open door. Miroku was leaning against the wall and half asleep. The hanyou walked to him and gently kicked his leg. "Ooof… Oh, Inuyasha… Care to take a shift in here?"

"Tell Sango I got this… No need to wake Kagome either," he whispered as Miroku stood and nodded.

"You have my thanks," as the monk slid the door closed, he watched the hanyou remove his sword and place it at the head of the futon before laying beside Ivy and curling protectively around her, drawing her into a tight embrace as she slept deeply.


	6. Chapter 6

Compass-

She woke to the soft giggles of children padding quickly to the kitchen as silently as hungry stomachs would allow. Around her she felt the solid form of the one who was so surely cradling her in her sleep. One arm was wrapped protectively at a diagonal across her chest while the other encircled her abdomen in a possessive hold, and the soft breathing at her neck sent chills down her spine. Her mind was so fuzzy from sleep and the pure opium Kisho had slipped into the rice wine she could barely process what had happened or where she was.

He had felt her wake only seconds before and had waited calmly as her mind became fully aware of her surroundings. He did not move or tense, simply continued to breathe in her soft, feminine scent that had so calmed him throughout the night. When she let out a sound of panic and he felt her struggle against him, he tightened his grip and gently kissed the nape of her neck. "Ivy, calm down," he said in a gentle, calm tone and was rewarded with her stilling in his embrace. "I have you. You are safe."

She pressed her eyes closed and clutched at his hands where he held her in a steely grip, feeling tears well and threaten to fall. Her mind and body still were slightly hazy from sleep and what Kisho had given her. Faintly, at the back of her mind she realized that the wine had to have been dosed with something for it to have affected her so quickly. She could hold her liquor like no one else, but she had passed out within moments of drinking what amounted to a full glass of red wine. After a moment, she moved to turn and felt him release her enough to welcome her against his chest, clutching at the folds of his clothing as she began to cry.

He rolled to his back and simply held her as she silently wept. Inuyasha had known it was coming from the moment she'd woken while Kouga was in their camp and bolted into the underbrush. His heart had almost stopped seeing her begin to fall toward the jagged rocks below, barely capturing her form in his arms and missing the sharp boulders before pushing off a flat area and up into the air. He ran a clawed hand through her long curls and held her close until she could calm enough to speak.

"How do you feel?"

"A little light headed," she whispered. "What did Kisho put into the wine?"

"Opium," he caressed her back and took one of her hands when she trembled. "Do you remember?"

"No," she murmured and wove her fingers with his. "Nothing from the moment I fell into your arms."

A tension he'd been holding in his body released and he kissed the crown of her head. "I was worried you might… You struggled so much during it."

"I'm ok," she breathed, and hugged him tightly, feeling him relax even further. "My feet barely hurt at all right now."

"Are you hungry?"

"No, just a little sick to my stomach," she frowned softly as she swallowed. "More thirsty."

He sat up slowly with her, gently pushing her hair from her face as he met her eyes in the dim light of the den waking to the new day. "We're staying today and leaving tomorrow to go to Sesshomaru's mountain fortress. You need to eat at some point, ok?" She nodded and he kissed her brow with a tender intensity that sent a soft tremble through her body. "I'll go and get you some of that tea Kisho gave you last night. Lay back and rest a little longer."

She watched him go, memorizing the shape of his form enshrouded in light pouring through the open door. "Yasha?" He turned and she smiled to him. "Thank you… For staying with me last night."

He smiled and watched as she lay back onto the futon, curling easily under the blankets. He walked to the kitchen where the others were sitting and eating breakfast. "Kisho, got any more of that tea?"

The kitsune nodded and stood, going to fire and beginning to brew a cup. "There's food to be had. I doubt she is much hungry considering the dose of opium. I did not honestly anticipate her imbibing so much so quickly."

"She'll eat later," he said as he took a bowl of porridge from Kagome as he sat beside her, noting Sesshomaru seated at her other side. "Ain't gonna let her starve when she's healing."

"You stayed with her all night?" Kagome asked with a faint smile touching her lip as he began inhaling the breakfast.

He swallowed and nodded. "I didn't want her to wake up alone in a strange place after the last time she woke up since getting here. Last thing she needs is to start panicking… But I don't think she's gonna have an easy time waking up for a while."

"Since we have the day, it might be expedient for some of us to go to the nearest town and get supplies and warmer clothing for our trek up the mountain," Miroku said before sipping from his tea cup, occasionally meeting Sango's furtive gaze across the low table where she sat next to her brother and Rin.

"The nearest town is a mile North of here on the main road," Kisho said as he put a cup of morning tea in front of Inuyasha, leaving Ivy's cup near the fire to keep warm.

"This Sesshomaru shall send Ah Un and Jaken to the fortress this morning and accompany any who wish to venture to town. Not knowing what we face in the wake of this new world, it is most probably best none of us attempt an expedition into the human or youkai world alone."

"I know Ivy's size, so I'll come along," Kagome said with a soft smile. "We might even be able to find her some warm boots if the town is big enough."

"The rest of us can stay here and plan our next moves as we discussed last night, and get Ivy up to speed when she's fully awake," Sango said, smiling at the soft blush that caught Kagome's cheeks. "The den may be the safest place for now, but we take a chance if too many of us leave here when we know there's a credible threat. You and Sesshomaru can make a quick trip and be back before supper."

Inuyasha smirked, but it was hidden by his hair as he stood and took the teacup from next to the embers of the kitchen fire. "Between me, Miroku, Kisho, and Sango, the kids will be safe until you both get back and we can head off to the fortress tomorrow… Were you planning to come along, Kisho?"

The kitsune looked to Sesshomaru who nodded a silent response. "Until it is known the effect of the wish, I think it best Shippo and I seal the den and accompany you to the fortress. The home of the taiyoukai of the West is far safer than the humble dwelling of a kitsune of little standing in human or youkai society."

The hanyou nodded and returned to Ivy who now slept lightly on her back. Her hair was pooled beneath her, her arms out and slightly up near her head, and her legs were relaxed, one partially bent beside the other beneath the blanket now resting just at her waist. He sat beside her on the futon and put down the teacup before leaning and gently caressing her jaw. She began to stir, her eyes fluttering open, and he lost his hold on that thin thread of control he had concerning the current situation. So much had happened in such a short time- so much considering what had been their quest was now resolved. As he captured her lips with his, he felt her sigh and gently reach and hold to him, one hand resting on his hip while the other gently slipped into his hair.

He'd known it was foolish to fall in love with a dream, and so had she, but it had all been so real. Imagination was only so powerful. Dreams could only weave so much fabrication before reality broke the spell and the world came sharply back into focus. It had never happened for them. She'd always been flesh and blood in his mind as much as he had been for her, and now he had her in his arms and he dared for that moment to allow his heart to feel what he'd thought was always to remain a memory.

"I love you," he whispered against her lips and felt his heart race as she captured his lips as surely as he had hers only a moment before. He felt no need for dominance over her. He'd felt her more than his equal for some time, often wondering in the still of the night when he'd woken from another of their meetings how even a figment as intelligent and strong willed as his dream Ivy could care so deeply for him- the bastard half breed of once one of the most powerful youkai in all of Japan.

Yet, here she was in his arms, kissing him with that quiet intensity he'd known in her from the very first dream they'd shared. He couldn't allow himself to think beyond that moment or any that would come while she still was real and with him. He didn't want to believe the universe was so cruel as to strip her from him now that he actually could hold her, but he knew better than most how quickly and callously the most beautiful and fragile things could be torn asunder. All he had with her was that moment, and he was determined to know it and feel it until it shattered just as his father had with his mother.

When she had died, his name had been kissing her lips as if he had been there with her, and Inuyasha had memorized that visage of true love. He internalized how dangerous and powerful such a thing could be and had secretly coveted the treasure while vocally lashing out against anything resembling it… Until he'd begun to dream. Until she'd told him her stories and shared with him how perfect love could be… That it could conquer and prevail no matter what life assaulted it with. All her stories ended happily forever and after, but this was not one of her stories. Who is to say how the author of this tale would see fit to end their reverie?

Gently he pulled away and smoothed a few strands of her hair from her brow. He smiled down at her and she traced his jaw to his lips with a delicate finger. "I love you, too."

In that moment, he promised the gods, the author, and anyone else who dared interfere in his joy that he would rend them from the world if she ever left his side.

Had they not been so concerned about the possibility of long dead enemies discovering them, he would have accompanied Kagome garbed in his normal attire, however, the concern was there and so he had borrowed the simple garb of Kisho and had employed the kitsune in creating an illusion to make him appear human. He stared at himself in the glass, scowling at the visage of mortal human Sesshomaru with black hair and the crest of his rank erased from his brow. He sighed in defeat and exited the den to meet Kagome outside.

Miroku smirked a bit from where he sat sipping tea in the front room. "Rather excellent disguise. How is it to be maintained without the kitsune with you?"

Sesshomaru showed him the braided red and silver bracelet around his wrist. "A charm of this Sesshomaru's hair braided with a lock of the kitsune's. The illusion will last until it is removed and will return if it is replaced. Rather ingenious."

"Sango was hoping the two of you could purchase some cold weather clothing for Kohaku and her as well. It will not put you too far behind time?"

"No, we should be easily able to accomplish the addition," he turned and focused on the closed door where Ivy was resting with his brother. They had been awake and indulging in their need for comfort and closeness, both he and Kisho had heard as they went to the kitsune's room for clothing and the charm, but the pair had stilled shortly after. He mused his brother did not want to hear him indulging in primal carnality, but knew it to be something deeper. Inuyasha loved her, Sesshomaru knew this much. Ivy was willful and forward, a product of the same era as Kagome, and likely more than willing to indulge him if he'd pressed her… But the brothers were more alike than either cared to accept or admit. The human heart was fickle where the youkai loved once and forever. Sesshomaru knew better than even Kagome that Inuyasha had inherited their father's heart, but was cursed with his mortal mother's inability to fully recognize what that love actually looked like. Now that his little brother had experienced the article and had her in his arms, Sesshomaru knew he would not risk losing her and so would proceed cautiously until he was certain.

"When they emerge, let Inuyasha know we will return by supper. If we are not returned by dusk, come in search," Sesshomaru said with a measured tone.

Miroku nodded in understanding. The inuyoukai did not know what to expect at the human village. He didn't know whether they were being followed or sought by who knows what villain brought back by Kagome's wish. His care was woven with the same thread that was binding him ever tighter to the miko and her ultimate fate, Miroku knew, would be sewn into the fabric of his eternity.

Kagome looked up as the door of the den opened and blinked a few times seeing Sesshomaru standing before her as a human. Kisho had done well in creating the taiyoukai's disguise, and even she had a difficult time detecting his youkai aura beneath the nine tail's magic. Still, Sesshomaru would have a difficult time blending into the background. He was vastly taller than most mortals of the age, and his looks were stunning and refined. Even in the simple blue and black clothing cut in the country style, he looked like a prince who had not worked a day in his life… Or a samurai who had not lost a battle. His eyes were too steady for an unseasoned warrior, and his stance too tried and immoveable. When he met her gaze, she blushed and realized she'd been staring.

"I think… Jaken is waiting for us at the glade," she said softly and he nodded. As they began their walk to the shrill sounds of Jaken's perturbed protests about anything and everything in the direct vicinity, Kagome couldn't help but smile. "I wonder what he will say when he sees you."

The taiyoukai could not help but smile. "If he does not fall over dead at the sight of this Sesshomaru, I will be supremely surprised."

"Then who would go to the fortress to prepare for our arrival?"

"You have a point," he smirked and paused to remove the braid at his wrist. "When we part ways, I will replace the charm. No need to deal with his incendiary comments at this time."

"Why… Why do you deal with him if he annoys you so clearly?" She noticed the quirk in his lips as he barely suppressed a smile. As the illusion faded, she felt her heart speed as his amber gaze captured hers.

"There are individuals in this world who, by virtue of their own existence, are gifted with a raw talent to humble the most noble and aggrandize the most lowly. Jaken is one such individual, and I have found in my long years there are few others who have such mastery of the skill. He aided my father and his father before him in similar tasks, and so has been a principal advisor and assistant to the Taisho house for millennia," he saw the understanding flash in her eyes and allowed himself to smile faintly. "That I detest him does not lessen his distinct usefulness. And… He brings to me a certain perspective of my world. Those he sees me care for most he usually is harshest against, and so I am ever more careful how I defend them."

"I see," she couldn't help but smile at his words. "It's why he's always so hard on Rin, isn't it? If she doubts her importance to you, no matter what her heart may tell her, others may underestimate her value as well and will not use her as a pawn to harm you."

He nodded and gently reached out to push a lock of her hair from her throat as a soft breeze captured the tendril and pulled it from her mane of ebony. Her soft blush was his reward. "Rin knows of my care for her. This Sesshomaru is not so cold the meaning of his heart cannot be discerned if one is paying attention… But Jaken distracts the casual observers from the truth in her eyes… And in mine."

"The truth…"

"That I would cross the threshold between life and death to save her soul and keep her with me," he noticed the surprise in her gaze and smiled. "When an inuyoukai attaches his heart to a human, it is forever. Nothing can sever the bond. It will draw him to the point of destruction… And he will not care, for she… Is the world and without her, there is no life. Rin is more than a ward, she owns part of my soul. It is why until I saved her that I had fought the nature which is so key to my very existence. My father knew this, and left me the sword that would save a mortal life rather than the one that could easily destroy."

"You consider her a daughter?"

"In the most tangible sense. She is not my blood, but I would bleed lifeblood to see her safe. Though… I know since your wish so bestowed a peacefulness and acceptance of my nature… She will need to learn to share my devotion," his heart skipped seeing her blush, yet not turn her gaze. "Though I doubt greatly she will take exception."

"Whoever wins that kind of devotion… I hope they are deserving of the bestower, Sesshomaru," she murmured and blushed as he bowed his head to her before motioning for them to continue into the glade.

"My devotion is only given to the most worthy… Those pure enough never to forsake it. Rin is such a soul… As are you, Kagome," he saw her lose her footing and caught her easily before she reached the ground. She looked up with a surprised but warm and entirely clear gaze as he helped her back to her feet. "Take care with your steps, Kagome… I fear moments I am not near to catch you."

Her breath caught in her chest as she gently held to his arms when he righted her on the path. His candidness and warmth might have seemed entirely alien had she not witnessed them in his care for Rin. "There's no need to fear for me when I fall. I'm stronger than you might think. I'm very good at finding my footing again."

His gaze was so piercing she felt as if he was looking at her very soul. "This Sesshomaru has witnessed your strength, sweet Lady… So forgive me the indulgence that I wish never to see you use it when I might shield you."

"I… I am not a Lady, Sesshomaru."

He smiled and leaned to gently and chastely kiss her lips, his arms still holding where he had caught her, now tightening his embrace as he kept her erect when her legs trembled and threatened to fold. "Perhaps… For a while longer," he whispered against her lips and felt her smile as he kissed her again. He embraced her tightly as she rested her head over his thumping heart and breathed deeply of her familiar, pure scent. When he felt her steady enough, he released her and continued to the glade, now walking close enough their hands could brush.

Jaken noted the easy and intentional brush of the miko's hand against his Lord's and felt both a sense of acceptance and pleasure knowing the taiyoukai had finally found the strength of the inuyoukai's legacy and a certain bristling knowing now he needed to divert the gaze of enemies from both the child and the woman in equal and important ways. Had his Lord no care for his advanced age? Certainly he knew that the kappa was exhausted in the great endeavor of making those who were the very breath of the great taiyoukai seem no more than the stones beneath his feet… Certainly Sesshomaru knew. Jaken would have it no other way.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Why do you insist on wearing such rags and you! Keep your distance from my Lord Sesshomaru, filthy human girl!"

"Jaken…" The icy tone of his Lord was all he received before calming and bowing to him. It was all he needed in response. "We will fly to the ridge outside the human town together, then you will continue to the fortress and make ready for our party to arrive. Make space also for Kisho and Shippo. They will need accommodation for an indeterminate span."

"Shall Isamu put more soldiers on the walls?"

"Not yet, though I wish you to send a message to Miyoko. This Sesshomaru has need of her presence at the fortress for Rin and the other children."

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru," Jaken bowed and mounted Ah Un, noting as his master slipped his right arm around the miko's hip as they took to the sky. He felt the weight of his tasks take on greater weight. In sooner time than he would have to make the necessary arrangements, he knew Kagome would be mated to his Lord. He made a mental note to deal with the rumors that would make their way to Satori. The more direct the kappa was with the old bitch, the better it would ultimately be for Sesshomaru, his mate, and his daughter.

She sat quietly in the front room of the den on a nest of cushions Inuyasha had made for her while he went to help Kisho with putting together a meal. Miroku and Sango were out with the children playing in the glade, and Sesshomaru and Kagome had gone little more than an hour before. After she ate, Kisho was planning on changing her bandages and cleaning her feet. There was a part of her that accepted everything as if it were normal for her to be curled up in a bed of soft feather filled cushions waiting as two handsome men cared for her in a magical den that was bigger on the inside nestled somewhere in the forests of feudal Japan, but there was another part of her that was entirely at a loss as to what she was to do from now on. She had no real skills aside from her ability to read and write. The world and the means for living in it were entirely foreign.

She toyed with the single pink pearl hanging from a silver chain around her neck. She'd bought two identical pearl charms as a friendship gift for Besse a few years before. The thought of never seeing her best friend or her family again was enough to nearly bring her to tears again, but she fought it back as Inuyasha returned with Kisho and the lunch Inuyasha insisted she'd eat.

Ivy sighed and slowly began eating what was presented. It was all simple and easy to eat food, but her stomach still felt a bit laden with the effects of the opium. Kisho had admitted he'd put far more into the wine than he'd thought necessary for a woman her size, then she'd drank it so deeply and quickly, there was no chance for slow absorption. Her dizziness and fuzzy thoughts since waking and the constant drifting in and out of sleep even at mid day spoke to just how much of the drug was still coursing through her system, and neither of the men liked it.

Inuyasha, to his credit, had been pushing water and tea at her whenever she was awake. Slowly her system was being purged, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Kisho sighed and sat on his haunches in front of Ivy as Inuyasha moved the nearly finished meal to the side so he could remove her bandages, clean and treat the soles of her feet. He nodded to the hanyou as he put the bowl of clean, recently boiled water, fresh bandages, and the salve Kagome had made next to him, then watched as Inuysha sat Ivy up and moved behind her to hold her still while Kisho worked.

"Just remember to breathe. The tea will help, but it will not dull everything."

"I promise I will try not to kick you in the face," Ivy replied with a wan smile as she pressed back against Inuyasha. His arms only tightened around her as he rested his lips on the crown of her hair, breathing in her scent deeply.

Kisho worked carefully, but quickly to remove the silk bandages, trembling when she winced and tensed. He looked up to see Inuyasha with his eyes pressed tightly closed, a line forming in his brow. A few tears were falling down her cheeks, and he realized how much of the pain was being caused by the bandages sticking where her feet had begun healing. "I am sorry, Ivy…"

"S'ok," she gasped, clutching at Inuyasha's arms, pressing her head to the side into his chest and throat. She calmed as his arms tightened around her, and she continued to try to convince her legs not to spasm involuntarily and kick Kisho in the head. Logic warned it would just make her feet hurt more.

He could all but feel her pain as she clung to him. The scent of it was assaulting his nose as the kitsune gently soaked the areas where the bandages were sticking to her healing flesh. It was all he could do not to lose control, and so he breathed more deeply the scent of her hair, focusing on her body held so tightly against his. It was the sound of her voice as she bit back and swallowed cries, the scent of her tears as they stained her cheeks that were killing him. Still, he knew this was nothing to what would have been if she'd been awake for his brother's acid closing her wounds.

It took several moments, then he gently washed her damaged flesh, noting the deep cuts were closed nicely, it was just the seeping after being closed with acid that was causing the most pain when removing the bandages. "I think we should let them dry a short while so they can close more fully. Rest, and I will return in a while to finish bandaging."

Inuyasha nodded, his eyes still closed as he ran a hand through her hair, combing along her scalp over and again as she calmed and stopped trembling. He remembered how much pain Kagome had been in when they'd been trapped and standing in acid and how long it had taken for her feet to fully heal when he'd suffered nearly no damage after a few moments outside. Humans were so fragile and slow to heal. How would they have survived the world so full of deadly magic and youkai if the inuyoukai had not loved them and protected them? Now that Sesshomaru was taking his rightful place leading their kind, humanity would know true safety again.

"Do you think you can rest a while, Ivy?"

She nodded, still clinging to his arm as he held her across her torso. She trembled as he continued to comb her hair with his claws and sighed softly. "Don't leave, ok?"

He leaned and kissed the crown of her head, breathing in her scent again. "Not for a moment."

She drifted off in his embrace quickly, her head resting against his left shoulder, her body halfway in his lap as she fully relaxed against him. Inuyasha closed his eyes and memorized the moment as he had so many before that morning. It was taking all of his control to reign in the desires of his beast who so instinctively wanted to lay proper claim upon her. He would wait until his brother had properly claimed and mated Kagome, though, out of respect for both his best friend and his alpha. Though the waiting was near agony. But there was still a deeper part of him that feared the future. How easy would it be for the universe to simply steal her away from him when it had so easily granted him her resting so peacefully in his arms? He didn't want to think about it too much, not when she needed his strength for the moment. He'd need to be a complete idiot not to see the lost, wistful expressions and how she gently caressed the pearl at her throat. It was all she had of her world and time, and though he knew she was speaking the truth when she'd whispered her love to him in the peaceful dimness of the back room that morning, some part of her would always be inaccessible so long as she knew someone was missing her, worrying for her in a place she may never reach again.

Kisho watched them from the doorway of the kitchen and shook his head. He'd never understood inuyoukai and how easily they allowed their devotion and love to overwhelm their senses. Both brothers could easily have seduced and mated their respective objects- Kagome and Ivy- without so much trouble as it would take to draw breath. He'd watched the women closely, and, knowing human women vastly better than he'd ever impart to anyone other than his son once Shippo had reached the proper age, he knew both Kagome and Ivy were utterly willing, they simply needed Sesshomaru and Inuyasha to reach out and take them. Still… They wouldn't be inuyoukai had they not hesitated and waited for the identical devotion from their desired mates. What Kisho nor Shippo would ever be able to bestow on a human lover, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha could gift to their chosen mates: immortality and unwavering health until the death by violence of their inuyoukai mates. Even as a hanyou, Inuyasha could grant Ivy his long lifespan and health. Had he claimed and mated her the night before, her damaged feet would have healed in a matter of hours, and Kisho was very aware how well Inuyasha knew this fact. Still, he held back. He did not proceed for the kamis knew what reason… And Kisho did his best not to think too hard upon the reason. He only ached for the woman resting so peacefully in Inuyasha's embrace. Her cries of pain, her tears marring the same warm and engaging features, fracturing her strong and willful gaze tore at a deep part of himself he could not name.

"Would you like to let her rest longer, or shall we finish with the bandages?" Kisho asked softly.

Inuyasha looked up to the kitsune and sighed. "She's really out… How gentle can you be?"

He smiled crookedly, a mischief in his gaze that made Inuyasha's eye twitch slightly. "She will not wake, I promise you."

The pack was weighted with supplies and clothing enough for all of the party, including himself and the children. Still, Kagome was distracted by the shop merchant attempting to sell her confections. She seemed most interested in the sweet rice balls and he sighed as she turned partially and glowed to him, extending her hand in an unspoken request. He sighed and smirked as she placed another few coins into her hand, and she purchased the small parcel of sweets. It would be the only box he'd allow her to carry on the trek back.

Once out of the township, he still did not remove the charm that obscured his true form. He was convinced all who bore resemblance to youkai ancestry should wear a similar charm while they ventured to his fortress. Even Kirara would be forced to look the part of a kitten rather than the fearsome nekoyoukai. Even more, he felt certain it was safest to do so on foot. His suspicions had been well founded as they'd found a town locked in a certain degree of chaos. Loved ones killed in the aftermath of the shattering of the Shikon no Tama were returning. Samurai had been sent to maintain some semblance of peace and order, making the roads dangerous. Who was to say what awaited them if they looked like their true selves? They faced enough danger as humans.

"I could help, you know," she said with a warm smile. It was early afternoon, and he'd only allowed her to carry the sweet rice balls. "I am not entirely incapable."

He smirked and met her gaze out of the corner of his eyes. "This Sesshomaru is not tired. Though… There is a stream nearby if you would like to stop for our lunch. It is well beyond noon."

She blinked and nodded. "That would explain why I'm so hungry. We were so busy shopping, I barely noticed the time."

Sesshomaru knew that was only half true. He'd heard her stomach grumble an hour earlier, but she'd said nothing and seemed determined to leave the town as quickly as they could without sacrificing anything they needed to purchase. It had been the samurai that had come to town. Whether she recognized them, he had, and he knew they had been watching her far more closely than he liked. Still, they'd been careful not to draw attention, and his stance and closeness to her spoke volumes to them. They seemed to understand when they'd encountered a foe they could not take, and so Sesshomaru felt secure they would keep their distance. The last thing they needed was the pack of sword wielding idiots who had chased Ivy the previous morning to decide to follow them.

Once they reached the stream, Kagome went to work setting up a small meal for the two of them from the supplies they had bought in town. He watched her from where he leaned against a nearby tree and noted how focused she became when preparing the food. She had braided her hair back, and as she leaned forward, he reveled in the slender arch of her neck as a few free locks of hair fell to frame her jaw. She was humming some song he had never heard, surely one from her own time, and there was a serenity to her features as she worked. When she looked up and noticed him watching her, she blushed deeply and touched her lips lightly when she smiled.

"My apologies," she said with the softest delight dancing behind her eyes when he approached and sat across from her.

"There is nothing to regret," he said with amusement in his gaze.

"Inuyasha usually leaves camp with Miroku while Sango and I make lunch or dinner to scout… You were so quiet, I didn't realize you were there."

He smiled and nodded. "You did not think I was listening."

"Did the singing bother you?"

"On the contrary," his smile warmed. "I am sorry you stopped."

Her blush deepened, and they began to eat in a peaceful silence. Kagome wasn't exactly certain what to do with her feelings concerning the taiyoukai. She could not help but wonder if his warmth the last couple of days had been a direct result of her wish, or if they had simply surfaced because the wish had defeated any reason he had to battle long existing feelings from surfacing. In either case, it had been her fault, but she couldn't feel a fracture of guilt over the knowledge that he was only expressing his care because she'd freed his heart enough to acknowledge it.

"Where are you?" His voice was soft, yet resonant. Sesshomaru had watched her fall deeply into thought, and he feared where her thoughts might have led her. She had been so consumed with her place and part in the current situation, he did not doubt that she considered any warmth or change in him as part of her wish, and he feared her pulling away because of guilt. "You are so deep in thoughts."

"I… When I made the wish, what peace were you brought, Sesshomaru?" She watched the sudden worry cross his gaze.

He sighed and considered a moment how to respond. "My mother and father lived as mates only as long as it took to bring me into the world. I lived in her palace, bore her family crest, and while I was his heir, she raised me as hers as well. Her line is pure blooded from the time the god Inu sent his children to earth to befriend and protect humanity. There are those who say the line is actually directly from Inu himself, thus the crescent moon crest upon the first born's brow. The closeness to humanity was always seen as a chore to her… She has always felt herself above the task of being a protector, and preferred only dealing with the nobility of humanity. My father's line is directly descended from Inu's first general whose name I currently own. It was said he and his soldiers for a thousand years before the order walked with humanity and protected them from the youkai all over this world. My birth was the merging of two lines, and my father had hoped it to be the fusion of two great visions: the protection of humanity, and the ability to live with them as equals. My mother, upon realizing my father's dream, did all in her power to taint the powerful instincts born in my blood. She did not want me tainted, so raised me separately from him and turned her back on her duties as a mate. I can only believe she loved him purely, for she still wears the Meidio Seki made of his soul to this very day, but the betrayal she tasted when learning of the Inu no Taisho's taking of a human lover… The birth of his hanyou child and then of his death to carelessness, that love turned to bitterness and loss. I knew my father from afar until he demanded my separation from my mother when I was still very little more than a boy in the estimation of an immortal's life. When I came to him, the poison my mother had fostered in me was so deeply rooted, all the good and warmth he did in the world fell upon blind eyes," Sesshomaru reached out and gently brushed the tear that fell from her shimmering gaze, bringing his fingertips to his lips, kissing the cool saline expression of her empathy. He met her surprised gaze and smiled sadly. "Do not fear the peace your wish allotted me is any more than the peace of a boy who had been taught to deny his own true nature. I was born to love humanity, Kagome. I was sired to become a divine protector of the mortal realm from those youkai who would attempt to destroy the designs of heaven for this earth. For too long, I fought every instinct my blood demanded of me. I battled my recognition of my brother's relation to me, even the need to protect that which is human within him. The battle within me your selfless wish quelled was one born of weakness and bitterness, and now I am free to be the man my father had always hoped I would become."

"So… All of this…" Her voice wavered slightly as more tears slipped down her cheeks. "Your restraint with Inuyasha, and your kindness to all of us… Your kiss," she touched her lips and gazed deeply into his eyes and saw resting there a warmth she knew she could rest within for eternity and never wish to leave. "It's because…"

"Because you freed me, Kagome," he breathed and gently reached out, drawing her to him, embracing her protectively. He closed his eyes and took in her scent, trembling slightly as she pressed into his arms. "My heart has been claiming yours even since that first moment you chose to defy me as you stood beside my brother. There is no way to make up the pain I have caused you these many years of violence, but I beg you consider allowing me to make the attempt."

It was as if the very earth was gone beneath her, and all she had to hold was him. All that could hold her were his arms. All the air she could breathe was his scent as she pressed her face gently into his chest and cried silently. His arms tightened around her and she felt him draw her into his lap, gently caressing her hair and back. She'd been holding so tightly to her guilt, fearing she had somehow done damage, especially to him. He'd been so out of character, and while she had welcomed his warmth, she feared he was somehow being altered, and that alteration could be shattered. It could be undone in all of them, and then she would be faced with losing all of them for the anger they would hold against her.

But a moment of peace- an instant of the end to the pain of living and the damage life could do to a soul… Somehow, that had been enough to heal and shift and change so many just within her reach. Perhaps it was not enough for everyone touched by the sacred jewel, but in that moment, she felt her guilt fall away entirely, and she allowed herself to feel his warmth throughout her soul.

"Sesshomaru," she looked up into his eyes, their beautiful amber light masked to look dark brown and human. He gently caressed her jaw as he gazed down at her with such tenderness, her heart broke. "Sesshomaru, I…"

"Stop," he breathed, leaning and kissing her tenderly, brushing newly falling tears from her cheek. Her lips were so sweet and her kiss so innocent. He ached to deepen their contact, but he feared breaking that pure moment of release as he had watched her forgive herself and welcome his arms around her. "Let your heart choose gradually, sweet Lady. The passing of two days cannot contend with what your heart knew for my brother…"

"No," she breathed, gasping as he kissed her again and she instantly fell deeper into the embrace of his soul. She ached to tell him her heart had released Inuyasha. The gift of her wish had not just fallen on them, but her as well. She'd been freed for that moment of the grief she'd felt for so long watching Inuyasha pine and yearn for her previous incarnation. But she knew on a deep level that he was correct. The envy she'd felt seeing Inuyasha with Ivy had been enough to prove him correct in his words, no matter how much she ached for him to be wrong. That morning, the envy had been less keen, but it was still there. She knew she did not love him as anything more than a brother, but he had been so much more to her than that over the years. Even knowing her true feelings for him, she realized her heart's envy was more connected to the fear their friendship would suffer as they both turned to what truly was love and not just childish grasping and obsession.

When she had stilled and welcomed his kiss so openly, he had allowed himself to delve and taste her sweetness, reveling in the purity of her kiss, knowing on a soul level none had ever kissed her with such passion or possession. The innocence of her return of the kiss had proven it to him, and he swore that, first kiss he may not have been, only he would be from that moment on. He pulled back slowly and rested his brow against hers, noting her tears had ceased and she rested now languidly in his embrace. He did not want to move, but as he looked to the sky and noted the time, he was well aware that in a few hours time, Miroku, Kisho, and Inuyasha would be out searching for them.

He brushed a lock of hair from her brow and she leaned into his fingertips, smiling when their eyes met. "We still have a few miles to walk, Lady."

Her heart skipped as he abandoned her name again, but the implication of Lady rather than Miko warmed her far more deeply than had she heard her name escaping his lips. "A moment longer?" She smiled as he held her closer, closing his eyes as he breathed in the scent of her hair. She knew in that moment the time for envy was past. No matter what happened with Inuyasha and Ivy, her heart had chosen its true North, and the pull of her chosen polarity was strong enough, nothing could sway her to turn.

She had woken a short time before still nestled in the pile of pillows in the front room. While she'd slept, Kisho had wrapped her feet and Inuyasha had come to rest with her, his head resting against her abdomen, his arms wrapped tightly around her as he slept deeply. Ivy ran her fingers along his ears, smiling when they flicked softly, then began combing her hands gently through his long, snowy hair. After a long moment of simply taking in how safe and happy she was, she touched the pearl at her throat, then removed the chain, dangling the pink orb above her.

If she could only somehow reach Besse and her family… To tell them where she was, that she was safe and happy, perhaps she could accept her fate. She could begin her life with him and not regret leaving those she loved so deeply wondering. She'd been so blessed with so many people who loved her… Who would simply never stop looking and hoping. She imagined Kagome had felt the same when she'd fallen through the well and become caught in the past the first time. The hopeless grasping for a way home she knew might be out of her reach forever… But at least Kagome had the well. Eventually, she'd found a way home, and her family had come to accept her life was not in the modern age. Ivy had no well, no portal back to explain and say goodbye forever. She was trapped and the heaviness of her thoughts pulled her into a depression that was part ache and part hopelessness. Inuyasha was the only bright light, and she clung to him in a way that was unfair to him and to her. She loved him… Had loved him as her favorite dream for years, but she knew in her heart he deserved more… And her heart and soul were willing to give all to him. On a deep, instinctual level, she already knew she belonged to him and would never accept another in his place.

Her mind was another issue altogether. She knew no matter how devoted she became, no matter how deeply she loved him, if the opportunity to return even for a moment to her time and place came, she would take it for the sake of those she'd left behind. The guilt of that knowledge was enough to break her heart. She sighed and dangled the pearl a bit more and watched it spin slightly in a circle no matter how still she held the chain, more than likely an effect of her arm moving slightly as she held it above her head. Ivy smiled softly and sighed, thinking she needed to ask Kisho for more of the tea he'd given her before. The last cup was wearing off, and her feet were beginning to ache again. She was so focused on the pain, she nearly missed seeing her necklace cease spinning and then hold extended in the direction of the glade where she knew Kisho was with Sango, Miroku, and the children awaiting Sesshomaru and Kagome's return.

Ivy gasped as the pearl necklace fell as she stopped thinking of Kisho. She sat up quickly, ignoring Inuyasha's grumbles as he curled a bit more, his head now just in her lap as he began to wake.

"What… What's the matter?" He asked in a slightly confused and grumpy tone.

"I… I don't know…" She focused as she had before and thought of Sango, watching in wonder as the pearl levitated out in the direction she knew Sango was in the glade.

Inuyasha frowned, looking at Ivy's necklace as it held in the air pointing toward the glade. "How are you doing that?"

"I don't know, it's just happening," she breathed, a memory shimmering in her mind as she realized what it could be. "Scrying… I think I'm scrying."

"Scrying?" he studied her gaze and how intensely she was focusing. The pearl danced left to right while still pointing entirely erect and outward in the direction of the glade. "What does that mean?"

"It means… I'm thinking of a person, and my necklace is pointing out their direction like the needle on a compass," she laughed as his eyes widened. "I keep thinking of Kisho, Miroku, and Sango, it keeps dancing left and right, like they're sitting or standing next to each other."

"So… You could use this to find anyone?"

"Or anything," she focused again, the pear falling down only a second before it again rose, pointing toward the kitchen. "The opium Kisho used on me is in the little jar above the fireplace," she gasped and focused again on Kisho, the pearl pointing in his direction. She now knew his exact location. "Holy shit! I'll never lose my car keys again!"

Inuyasha smirked, gently running a hand through her tangle of curls. He met her gaze as she let the pearl fall and drew her into a tender kiss. He didn't want to ask her to help them hunt down the enemies that may have been brought back, but he knew this gift she'd accidentally discovered could make all the difference in assessing their safety in this new world created by Kagome's wish. As he pulled back, he took the silver chain from her hands and put it back around her throat, resting his hand gently over her heart.

She felt as if she were falling into his eyes. She covered his right hand over her heart with both of her own, feeling it speed as he did. The world was pulling her deeper into its magic, she had already realized as much when she'd woken speaking Japanese. Now a general ability to find everything with relative ease had manifested as some sort of full blown scrying ability. The world of her birth felt further and further outside of her grasp no matter how she reached for it. "I'm afraid," she whispered, and he nodded, gently pulling her close in a protective embrace. "Yasha, I'm so damned afraid, I can't stop trembling… I feel like I can't breathe."

"Nothing's gonna hurt you, Ivy," he whispered, reclining back into the pillows, wrapping around her protectively. "I'll kill anything or anyone who tries."

"That isn't what I'm afraid of," she murmured, trying to still the trembling that kept rolling through her body.

"What is it?"

"I'm afraid I'll never go home… And I'm afraid… If I'm wrong, I'll never find a way back to you," she met his confused, yet warm gaze. Her emotions were so conflicted, she barely understood them herself. "If I had a moment… Just a moment to go back and tell Besse and my parents and brother what happened… Just a moment to hug them all and tell them I love them one last time, I know I'd never want to leave this world. I'd miss them forever, but I'd come back to you and live this life with you… But I'd be afraid in that moment that I'd never make it back… So I'm afraid of both… Never making it back to them, and losing you if I ever did."

It took him a moment to realize what she was saying. She didn't want to go home, she only wanted the chance to say goodbye. He smirked and kissed her brow, then her lips tenderly, feeling her calm fully as he held her tighter. "I don't know what the hell is possible or not, but I promise… If we can, I'll get you home for that moment, Ivy. I want you here with me fully: mind, heart and soul… So we'll find a way. Somehow, we'll find it."


End file.
